City of warren and surounding area.

[SPANK]

I was told warren is sitting on a old dumpsite, in the30s 40s or 50s they put 6 feet of soil on top of it. Does anybody know this to be true for warren or any other city?

[MikeM]

Six feet of topsoil over 36 square miles? I doubt it

[Danny]

Yes, it did. At the time most of Warren was unused farmland before suburban development.

[313WX]

I was told warren is sitting on a old dumpsite, in the30s 40s or 50s they put 6 feet of soil on top of it. Does anybody know this to be true for warren or any other city?

That would explain the many strange eccentricies the people in Warren have...

[Zacha341]

Hah! Could be. I know the city was built up fast as part of the flight, quick fast and in hurry! Who knows what was turned over to get some of the houses built. Now with this flood the deterioration of some of the less well built homes will accelerate.

Yes, it did. At the time most of Warren was unused farmland before suburban development.

[Warrenite84]

There was a landfill on the Art Van Property South of 14 Mile Rd.

[Honky Tonk]

Yes, it did. At the time most of Warren was unused farmland before suburban development.

Seeing how it's a flood plain, I can certainly understand why.

[Smirnoff]

I was told warren is sitting on a old dumpsite, in the30s 40s or 50s they put 6 feet of soil on top of it. Does anybody know this to be true for warren or any other city?

All true - next.....

[Hermod]

Hah! Could be. I know the city was built up fast as part of the flight, quick fast and in hurry! Who knows what was turned over to get some of the houses built. Now with this flood the deterioration of some of the less well built homes will accelerate.

A lot of south Warren was swamp. Many of the subdivisions in Warren pre-dated the "flight" and were a part of the postwar housing boom. A lot of people got married during the depression and moved in with parents. Few new houses were built during the war. Post-war, the pent up demand from these folks crowded together plus those who had migrated to Detroit during the war and were living under substandard conditions caused a housing boom fueled by the forced savings of the war workers and the GI bill for servicemen returning from the war. The undeveloped land in Detroit was quickly used up, scattered vacant lots were infilled, and the first inner ring suburban subdivisions were built. The "flight" began in the mid-fifites. Before 1945, Grayton was pretty much the limit of development in NE Detroit. 1946-1960, all of the land between Grayton and 8-Mile was built up. Scattered vacant lots south of Grayton also had new construction.

[Wesley Mouch]

... Before 1945, Grayton was pretty much the limit of development in NE Detroit. 1946-1960, all of the land between Grayton and 8-Mile was built up. Scattered vacant lots south of Grayton also had new construction.

Grayton isn't so much towards Warren... but interesting notes.

[gnome]

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/...1875/Michigan/


In the above link, you will find an 1872 plat map of Warren Twp. There is very little evidence of any swamp land. There are two small streams indicated to running off to the north, but no swamp land.

[Hermod]

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/...1875/Michigan/


In the above link, you will find an 1872 plat map of Warren Twp. There is very little evidence of any swamp land. There are two small streams indicated to running off to the north, but no swamp land.

It isn't a topo map, it is a political map showing mete and bounds of property and roads. It doesn't say if the properties were high and dry or waterlogged.

[DetroitPlanner]

Yes, it did. At the time most of Warren was unused farmland before suburban development.

Farmland is a use. People use it to grow crops. I know picky picky, just trying to point out that we need open space. The more we understand that, the more concerned we will be about land-use and un-contained development.

I doubt there was ever much wetland in Warren. The map suggests a very Jeffersonian style of land separation. No one would want the swampland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Land_Survey_System

[Hermod]

I doubt there was ever much wetland in Warren. The map suggests a very Jeffersonian style of land separation. No one would want the swampland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Land_Survey_System

The Warren Area was laid out by the Northwest Survey in "townships and sections" which leads to that way of land distribution. I am not sure you call it "Jeffersonian".

[gnome]

Tom Jefferson came up with a plan for plating new territories.

For Michigan the division of lands starts at the intersection of Baseline and Meridian roads in Jackson county. Baseline runs from Lake Michigan to Lake St. Clair and is known in these parts as 8 mile road. Meridian runs from the ohio border to the Soo.

when you look at your property description it includes the Jeffersonian devised coordinates. It usually looks something like T1eR7...

oh, oh, you might want to check other maps in that same collection. Swampy areas are clearly identified, and while they are not topo maps they certainly show streams, ponds, lakes and other topographic features.

in Wayne county, Greenfield And Grosse Pointe townships are of particular interest. Moreover, the FEMA website offers a very detailed resource of flood plains all over this great land. For Warren it shows possible flooding along the Red Run. I didn't see any other places, but I am sure I missed something.

[Hermod]

oh, oh, you might want to check other maps in that same collection. Swampy areas are clearly identified, and while they are not topo maps they certainly show streams, ponds, lakes and other topographic features.

in Wayne county, Greenfield And Grosse Pointe townships are of particular interest. Moreover, the FEMA website offers a very detailed resource of flood plains all over this great land. For Warren it shows possible flooding along the Red Run. I didn't see any other places, but I am sure I missed something.

Here is why Macomb County is not swampland today. This is a list of all of the "drains" that move the water in the county. there are three pages of listed creeks and drains.

http://www.topozone.com/states/Michi...feature=Stream

[Gistok]

It seems that we go thru this argument every year....

Most of Macomb County was uninhabited in 1800. And here is a map showing what the natural land use was before much of the area was settled [[very low density) as farmland.
http://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/data/veg1800/macomb.pdf

During the course of the 19th century much of the forested land was cleared, and the swamps and wetlands were drained for farmland. So by the time that the 1872 map that Gnome shows was produced, the land was mainly agricultural land... with some rivers and creeks and their flood plains intact.

Here is an aerial view of southwest Warren circa mid 20th century, before the building boom... showing mainly dry land...

[JBMcB]

For Warren it shows possible flooding along the Red Run. I didn't see any other places, but I am sure I missed something.

The Red Run drain is fed by an enormous underground complex that starts at I-75 and 12-mile, and stretches to Dequindre and Chicago roads. At it's mouth on the east side of Dequindre, it's *very* deep. A few years ago we had torrential rain nearly every day for a week. More rain than a few Mondays ago, but over a longer time. The Red Run was barely half full after all that rain. It flooded a bit down towards where it hits the Clinton river, but that whole area is a flood plain. There's quite a bit of flood plain along the Clinton River as well, especially along the Clinton River park.

The Warren Civic Center Library has the original Army Engineering Corps. plans and overview of the engineering of the Red Run drain, if anyone is interested, along with an *awesome* Detroit Architectural Sourcebook from the 1940's. Please don't steal it

[DetroitPlanner]

The Warren Area was laid out by the Northwest Survey in "townships and sections" which leads to that way of land distribution. I am not sure you call it "Jeffersonian".

from the link:
"Originally proposed by Thomas Jefferson to create a nation of "yeoman farmers",^[3] the PLSS began shortly after the American Revolutionary War, when the federal government became responsible for large areas of land west of the original thirteen states. The government wished both to distribute land to Revolutionary War soldiers in reward for their services, as well as to sell land as a way of raising money for the nation. Before this could happen, the land needed to be surveyed.^[3]
The Land Ordinance of 1785 was the beginning of the Public Land Survey System."

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1150.html

[SPANK]

Good reading, Thanks for all the replys, He also said when he was a kid you could see a "blue" haze over the site from all the trash.

[Willi]

Warren is very very wet, with numerous natural creeks, streams, rivers.
Plenty of history to be read online
https://archive.org/details/WarrenMi...art3Pages52-75

Sloan built GM on the river intentionally, because he wanted ponds, islands, etc.
Original designs involved a 22 acre lake that contained four islands
with 5 groups of connected buildings via the firm of Saarinen and Swanson.
Groundbreaking took place on October 23, 1945.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/61129002

[Wesley Mouch]

It seems that we go thru this argument every year....

Most of Macomb County was uninhabited in 1800. And here is a map showing what the natural land use was before much of the area was settled [[very low density) as farmland.
http://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/data/veg1800/macomb.pdf

During the course of the 19th century much of the forested land was cleared, and the swamps and wetlands were drained for farmland. So by the time that the 1872 map that Gnome shows was produced, the land was mainly agricultural land... with some rivers and creeks and their flood plains intact.

Here is an aerial view of southwest Warren circa mid 20th century, before the building boom... showing mainly dry land...

Is that view looking north from 8m up Mound? Was Mound really built in OC before inside Detroit? A google earth view looks like it could match.

[Danny]

Is that view looking north from 8m up Mound? Was Mound really built in OC before inside Detroit? A google earth view looks like it could match.

No, Mound Rd. was built in Macomb County in the late 1920s as part of future suburban sprawl.

[MikeM]

Yes. And here's the view looking back south at Mound & Eight Mile, 1937:

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...UND-1%5D6357_1

[Hermod]

No, Mound Rd. was built in Macomb County in the late 1920s as part of future suburban sprawl.

Befroe the Depression killed it, there was a proposal to run an interurban on the the Mt Elliot streetcar line out to Utica. The divided highway on Mound Road [[originally Prairie Mound Road) was the result. Stephenson Highway was also built as a divided highway to accommodate an interurban.