Woodward Avenue - Landing of Cadillac - Detroit, Michigan.
N 42° 19.632 W 083° 02.618
17T E 331617 N 4688128
This Bilingual Historic Marker - Landing of Cadillac / Le débarquement de Cadillac. Located on Hart Plaza, The Southern terminus of Woodward Avenue, the Automotive Heritage Trail, in Detroit the Motor City.
Waymark Code: WMM48W
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 07/19/2014
Views: 9
Many famous automotive names, eg, Cadillac, Dodge, Ford, & GM to name a few, can be found on the Hart Plaza at the Terminus or Begining of this historic American Byway know as The Automotive Heritage Trail, and listed and shown on maps as Woodward Avenue (M-1).
Text from the Marker:
"After departing Montreal June 5, 1701 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and his convoy of seventy-five canoes sailed down this river and on the evening of July 23 camped sixteen miles below the present city of Detroit on what is now Grosse Ile. On the morning of July 24, Cadillac returned upriver and reached a spot on the shore near the present intersection of West Jefferson and Shelby. Pleased with the strategic features, the bank towering some thirty feet above the level of the river, Cadillac landed and planted the flag of France, taking posession of the territory in the name of King Louis XIV. The erection of a fortress was immediately begun. The stockade, formed of fifteen-foot oak pickets set three feet into the ground, occupied an area of about an acre. The fortress was named Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit (the strait) in honor of Count Jerome de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine. From this fort and settlement, Detroit, the Renaissance City, takes its origin.
French:
Après avoir quitté Montréal le 5 juin 1701 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac descendit ce fleuve avec un convoi de vingt-cinq canoës. Le soir du 23 Jullet, le détachement établit son camp à l'endroit qui s'appelle maintenant Grosse Ile, soit seize miles an aval de le position actuelle de la ville de Détroit. Le 24 jullet au matin, Cadillac revint amont et atteignit le point de la rive qu'on puet situer aujourd'hui près du croisement des rues West Jefferson et Shelby. Séduit par la valeur stratégique du lieu qui dominait de quarante pieds le niveau de la rivière, Cadillac débarqua et planta le drapeau français prenant ainsi possession du territoire au nom du Roi Louis XIV. La construction d'une fortresse commença immédiatement. Avec ses pieux de chêne qui faisaient quinze pieds de long et qui étaient enfoncés de trois pieds dans le sol, la palissade délimitait une superficie d'un arpent, soit environ une acre. On baptista cet enclos Fort Pontchartrain du Dètroit, en l'honeur du Comte Jérôme de Pontchartrain, ministre de la Marine. C'est de ce fort et de ce campement qu'est née la ville de Détroit, la Cité de la "Renaissance."
Program: America's Byways
Website: [Web Link]
Official Name: Woodward Avenue (M-1)
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