DETROIT, the chief city of Michigan, the oldest city by far in the w. of the United States, and older than either Baltimore or Philadelphia on the seaboard, was founded by the French of Canada in 1670, as an outpost for the prosecution of the fur trade, on the right bank of the river of its own name. For more than a century and a half, how ever, the advantages of its position were rather prospective than actual. The settlement of the adjacent wildernesses was so slowly carried into effect, that Michigan, of which D. was the capital, continued to be a subordinate territory, as distinguished from a sov ereign state, from 1805 to 1837. Accordingly, as late as 1830, the place contained only 2,222 inhabitants. But in 1840, the pop. had risen to 9,102; in 1850, it was 21,019; and in 1870, 79,517. According to the official returns of the United States, the value of the imports in the year ending June 30, 1874, was $1,450,072 (C290,014), and of the exports $3,293,440 (L658,688). In 1875, the assessed value of real estate amounted to $90,000,000, or £18,000,000. D. has 34 newspapers and periodicals, of which 8 are
issued daily. Besides a net-work of navigable communications, which, with the aid .of art, has added the open ocean and the gulf of Mexico to the St. Lawrence, D. is a center from which 8 railways radiate. Eight lines of street-railway, with 40 m. of track, inter sect the city. Among the chief buildings are the city hall, 200 ft. long, and 180 ft. high to the top of the tower, completed in 1871, at a cost of $600,000; the opera-house; and the custom-house. D. has a well-organized system of public schools, and possesses 64 churches, of which the largest is the Roman Catholic cathedral. It is supplied from the river with water, which is forced into a reservoir 50 ft. high. The manufactures are extensive and important, consisting of steam-engines, machinery, stoves, cabinet-ware, bricks, tobacco, etc. Brewing and tanning are also largely carried on.