Executive Committee Meeting 10-15-24

President's Report

Page 31 of 95

EXPLORE DETROIT

CORKTOWN & MEXICANTOWN

Corktown a & Mexicantown

Another freeway loop, another district: here, west of Downtown, Corktown is considered the oldest district in Detroit. Founded in 1834, it owes its name to Irish immigrants from Cork County who settled there after fleeing the Great Famine of the 1840s. Less culturally pronounced than its Mexican neighbor, the district is still one of city's main entertainment hubs, and it has entered a new era thanks to the ambitious transformation of Michigan Central Station. � Getting there: By car or the 2 bus from Rosa Parks Transit Center up Michigan Ave. Detachable Map BD6-8. � Tip: The magnetic Michigan Central is the main draw, but do take the time to walk or cycle up the Riverfront via the Southwest Greenway. Plan to spend an evening there. T Addresses, p. 90.

32

33

Michigan Central, Detroit's former train station, is today home to a center of innovation and design. Helmut Ziewers/Visit Detroit

CORKTOWN a Following the Irish settlers, German, Mexican, and Maltese immigrants have come to live in Corktown, today a richly diverse and quite fashionable neighborhood.

There are still some attractive period houses in the area, especially the row houses from the 19th century, accommodation for the blue-collar workers. One rare example of the first wooden houses remains at 1430 Sixth Street. Built on two floors in 1849,

on the site of the Tiger Stadium , the baseball team's former home, which was demolished in 2009 in favor of Comerica Park. Gaelic League Irish-American Club C6 2068 Michigan Ave - t 313 964 8700- www.gaelicleagueofdetroit.org. The Gaelic League of Detroit, established in 1920, has occupied this building since the early 1950s. Once a welcoming refuge for the newly arrived Irish, the club is now a center for preserving Irish culture and traditions as well as socializing with a program of concerts, Irish dance classes, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and more.

it contained three small apartments, which would each have been occupied by up to a dozen people who would take it in turns to sleep there. Jobs were provided, among others, by the gigantic Carhartt factory, which stood on Michigan Ave (at what is today No. 1623) from 1893 until its demolition in the 1940s. The world famous workwear apparel label, still in the founder's family, was forced to shut down the site after the Great Depression and dwindling demand. The Corner D6 2121 Trumbull Ave. Another symbol of the district's revitalization, this housing and shopping complex was opened

Graffiti: from Vandalism to Veneration D7-8 The Riverfront is less developed in the west than in the east, but it's getting there! Since 2023, it has been linked to the Southwest Greenway , which follows part of a railway line built in the early 20th century along a water course from Corktown to the Detroit River. In the early 1990s, the disused area was the haunt of graffiti artists who covered the underpass between Rosa Parks and Lafayette Blvd with their tags and pieces. “The Yard” quickly became legendary, and its history is preserved by The Yard Graffiti Museum . From the transgressive status of early graffiti to the efforts to preserve this artistic gesture which emerged from the underground, this open-air art gallery lays its work out for all to see. Southwest Greenway, between Jefferson Ave and Bagley St.