Detroit Urbanism digs into the history of the Woodward plan

By Michael Jackman

Apr 6, 2016 at 1:45 pm

Audio By Carbonatix

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Judge Woodward's fanciful plan for Detroit was adopted in part, but abandoned almost 200 years ago. What might Detroit look like if it hadn't been?

We thought we knew a thing or two about Detroit history, especially the plan devised by Judge Augustus Woodward of hexagonal sections and diagonal streets. We've written about it before, of course, and figured that was all there was to it.

Leave it to amateur historian and blogger Paul Sewick to one-up us. His latest post at Detroit Urbanism is the first of a three-part series (talk about a "deep dive" into a topic) on the Woodward Plan, and includes plenty of information we had never heard before, including a rock and a marker that were buried downtown about two centuries ago, and some details about the precocious and pretentious Judge Woodward.

Take a look if you have a few moments and see what Sewick has uncovered. We can't wait to see parts 2 and 3.

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About The Author

Michael Jackman

Born in 1969 at Mount Carmel hospital in Detroit, Jackman grew up just 100 yards from the Detroit city line in east Dearborn. Jackman has attended New York University, the School of Visual Arts, Northwestern University and Wayne State University, though he never got a degree. He has worked as a bar back, busboy,...