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Wayne County Porch Notes

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History and culture Gordie Howe and the Making of Hockeytown Mr. Hockey gave Detroit its claim to Hockeytown: 25 seasons, four Stanley Cups, and a career that somehow stretched to age 52.
History and culture Henry Ford Moved Thomas Edison's Actual Laboratory to Michigan — Brick by Brick Henry Ford moved Thomas Edison's actual Menlo Park laboratory to Michigan, brick by brick, and had a frail Edison relight his lamp there in 1929.
History and culture Houdini's Last Trick Was in Detroit — and It Killed Him Harry Houdini gave his final performance at Detroit's Garrick Theatre in 1926, then died on Halloween of a ruptured appendix at Grace Hospital.
History and culture Joe Louis: The Brown Bomber Born in Alabama but made in Detroit, the Brown Bomber held the heavyweight title nearly twelve years — the longest reign in history — and became a national hero.
Cars and driving Michigan Built the Car — but It Also Built the Road, the Rules, and the First Freeway Michigan didn't just build the car — it laid the first mile of concrete highway (Woodward, 1909), pioneered the painted center line, and built the first urban depressed freeway (Davison, 1942).
History and culture Michigan Holds Some of America's Most Important Historic Artifacts — Including the Limo JFK Was Riding In The Henry Ford in Dearborn holds some of America's most significant artifacts — the Rosa Parks bus, the limo JFK was riding in, Lincoln's theater chair — plus nearly 100 relocated historic buildings.
History and culture Michigan's First Governor Was 24 Years Old. They Called Him "The Boy Governor." Stevens T. Mason became Michigan's first state governor in 1835 at age 24 — the youngest in U.S. history, a record that still stands — after being named territorial secretary at just 19.
History and culture One of America's First Radio Stations Went on the Air in Detroit Detroit's 8MK — later WWJ — went on the air in 1920 as the first newspaper-owned radio station, and is still broadcasting more than a century later.
History and culture Sanders: The Hot Fudge That Built a Detroit Empire The German immigrant's candy counter that gave Detroit its hot fudge, bumpy cake, and a maybe-claim to inventing the ice cream soda.
History and culture Techno Was Invented by Three Teenagers in a Detroit Suburb Techno was born in the basements of three Belleville teenagers — Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, the Belleville Three — before it conquered dance floors worldwide.
Cars and driving The $5 Day: How a Michigan Factory Helped Invent the Middle Class In 1914, Ford's Highland Park plant doubled pay to $5 a day — and helped invent the idea that a factory job could support a middle-class life.
History and culture The 1968 Tigers: A Championship a City Needed A year after Detroit's hardest summer, the 1968 Tigers and a Game 7 hero named Mickey Lolich gave a divided city something to share.
History and culture The Actual Birthplace of the Model T (Not the Factory You're Thinking Of) Ford's 1904 Piquette Avenue Plant is where the Model T was actually designed and first built — the oldest auto factory open to the public anywhere in the world.
Cars and driving The First Car Ever Driven in Detroit Wasn't Ford's — and Ford Watched on a Bicycle The first automobile driven on Detroit's streets wasn't Henry Ford's — it was Charles Brady King's, in 1896, with a young Ford following on a bicycle.
History and culture The Grand Steamers to Boblo Island Carried a Civil-Rights Case to the Supreme Court The Boblo Island steamers carried Detroiters to an amusement park — and carried Sarah Elizabeth Ray's 1945 stand against segregation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
History and culture The Largest Movie Palace Still Standing in America Is in Detroit Detroit's Fox Theatre, opened in 1928, is the largest surviving 1920s movie palace in America — more than 5,000 seats under a six-story golden lobby.
History and culture The Little House on West Grand Boulevard That Changed Music Forever One of the most important record labels in history started in a two-family Detroit house bought with an $800 family loan — and the hits poured out of its little Studio A.
History and culture The Queen of Soul Learned to Sing in a Detroit Church Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, was born in Memphis but raised in Detroit, where she learned to sing gospel in her father's New Bethel Baptist Church.
History and culture The Square Pizza Born in Auto-Parts Pans Detroit's square pizza got its crispy, cheesy edges from blue-steel pans first made to hold parts in the auto plants.
History and culture The World's First "Stoplight" Was Born in Detroit — Invented by a Cop From the Thumb The world's first tri-color, four-way traffic signal was built in 1920 by Detroit police officer William Potts, who was born in Bad Axe and never patented it.
History and culture The World's First Airport Hotel Was Henry Ford's Idea The Dearborn Inn, conceived by Henry Ford and designed by Albert Kahn, opened in 1931 as the world's first airport hotel — and reopened, restored, in 2025.
History and culture Those Glowing Detroit Tiles All Come From One Little 1903 Pottery Pewabic Pottery, founded in Detroit in 1903, still makes the iridescent tiles found in landmarks from the People Mover to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.
History and culture What Is "Superman" Ice Cream, and What Flavor Is It Supposed to Be? Superman ice cream is a red-blue-yellow swirl of lemon, Red Pop, and the famously undefinable Blue Moon — invented, the story goes, by Detroit's Stroh's brewery during Prohibition.
History and culture Why Detroit Hockey Fans Throw a Dead Octopus Onto the Ice Detroit Red Wings fans throw octopuses onto the ice — a tradition born in 1952 when two fish-market brothers tossed one for the eight playoff wins it then took to win the Stanley Cup.
History and culture Why Is Detroit Called the "Motor City" and "Motown"? (And What's a "Big Three"?) Detroit is the 'Motor City' for building America's cars — and 'Motown' is both that nickname (Motor Town) and the record label Berry Gordy named in its honor.
History and culture Why Is Vernors Ginger Ale Such a Big Deal in Michigan? Vernors is Detroit's own golden ginger ale, one of America's oldest soft drinks — beloved enough that Michiganders drink it flat and warm as cold medicine, or float it into a Boston Cooler.
Cars and driving You Can Drive Underwater Into Another Country — Only in Detroit The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, opened in 1930, is the only place in the world where you can drive underwater across an international border.
History and culture Dearborn: the capital of Arab America (bring your appetite) Dearborn is home to the world's first and largest Arab American museum, a history-making city government, and food worth crossing state lines for.
History and culture A $10,000 Bet on Pizza Built a Detroit Empire Mike and Marian Ilitch bet their $10,000 life savings on a Garden City pizza shop in 1959 — and Little Caesars money later bought the Red Wings and Tigers.
History and culture Carhartt Started in a Detroit Loft in 1889 Carhartt, the rugged workwear brand, started in a small Detroit loft in 1889 and is still family-owned and based in metro Detroit today.
History and culture Paczki Day: Hamtramck's Donut Holiday How Polish immigrants made the Tuesday before Lent into Hamtramck's biggest donut day.
History and culture Punk Rock Has Michigan Roots — Meet the MC5 and the Stooges Before anyone called it punk, the MC5 of Detroit and the Stooges of Ann Arbor were already playing it — and the world's punk bands took it from there.
History and culture The Bad Boys Pistons Detroit won with grit, not glamour — the bruising Bad Boys took back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990 as a true team.
Cars and driving The Line Down the Middle of the Road Was a Michigan Idea Every painted center line on Earth traces back to Edward Hines of the Wayne County road board, who put the first one down on a Trenton street in 1911.
History and culture The Motor City Also Kept Your Food Cold: The Kelvinator Story Kelvinator, founded in Detroit in 1914, didn't invent the refrigerator — but it made it practical, controlling 80% of the U.S. market by 1923.
History and culture What Exactly Is a "Coney Dog" — and Why Do Flint and Detroit Argue About It? A coney is a hot dog under a meaty, beanless sauce — and Detroit (wet and smooth) and Flint (dry and crumbly) have argued about how to make that sauce for a century.
History and culture Willow Run: where Rosie the Riveter built a bomber an hour Ypsilanti Township's Willow Run plant turned out a B-24 bomber roughly every hour at its WWII peak — the 'Arsenal of Democracy' made literal, now honored by the Yankee Air Museum.
Cars and driving The 'Michigan Left' — Why You Turn Right to Go Left Michigan's oddest turn makes you drive past your street and U-turn back — and it cuts crashes by 30 to 60 percent.
Rules and licenses Renting out a home? Your city may make you register it and pass an inspection Many Michigan cities require rental homes to be registered and inspected before a tenant can legally move in.
History and culture The Pointes: five towns on one famous shore The Grosse Pointes share Lake St. Clair's most storied shoreline — Lake Shore Road, the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, and a century of lakefront civic life.
Outdoors Hines Park: seventeen green miles through the western suburbs Edward Hines Drive strings 25 parks along the Middle Rouge from Dearborn through Dearborn Heights, Westland, and Livonia to Northville — western Wayne County's shared backyard.
Outdoors Downriver's secret: an international wildlife refuge at the front door The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge — North America's only international refuge — strings islands and marshes along Downriver's shore, with Elizabeth Park and the Gateway in Trenton.
History and culture Wayne: Michigan's first county, named for Mad Anthony Wayne County — organized in 1796 and named for General 'Mad Anthony' Wayne — is where Michigan began, and it's still the state's center of gravity.
Rules and licenses Can you park on the street overnight? Often not Many metro Detroit suburbs restrict overnight street parking, and snow emergencies can bring stricter temporary bans.
Cars and driving Why is car insurance so expensive around here? Michigan auto insurance is still expensive, and metro Detroit addresses can move rates by hundreds of dollars a month.
Rules and licenses Can you run an Airbnb here? Your city or township decides Michigan leaves short-term rental rules to each city or township, so Airbnb and Vrbo rules can change from one community to the next.
Money and taxes Buying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxes Michigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
Money and taxes In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.