Firsts in Detroit

**Gsgeorge** · January-08-10, 12:52 PM

Ok, so Detroit has a lot of FIRSTS, dating way back to its colonial days. Let's try and round them up here! Be sure to provide a DATE and DESCRIPTION!

Below are some ones I thought of off-hand...

1701. First settlement established on the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
1805-1847. First capitol of the Michigan Territory/State.
1866. First soda pop in America [[Vernor's)
1879. First city in the U.S. to receive telephone numbers.
1909. First mile of paved concrete - Woodward between Six and Seven mile
1913. Henry Ford's Highland Park Plant is the first in the world to utilize the assembly line process.
1920 [[?). First electronic traffic signal, Campus Martius.
1930. First international automobile tunnel in the world constructed between Windsor & Detroit.
1941. First urban depressed freeway - Davison Fwy - is constructed, spurring the development of no less than three more major interstates in the city.

Keep em coming! There are more!

**ndavies** · January-08-10, 12:58 PM

Your description of Henry Ford's plant is incorrect. It was the first auto plant to use a moving assembly line. Ransome Olds was the first to use an assembly line for automobiles.

**Bong-Man** · January-08-10, 01:03 PM

"urban depressed freeway".....Oh the irony.

**slick** · January-08-10, 01:20 PM

Police radio communications began on a permanent basis on April 7, 1928.

**slick** · January-08-10, 01:26 PM

Photo to go with above post on Police Communications.
Belle Isle Police Station

**cman710** · January-08-10, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by ndavies

Your description of Henry Ford's plant is incorrect. It was the first auto plant to use a moving assembly line. Ransome Olds was the first to use an assembly line for automobiles.

Ndavies, didn't Ford use the [[non-moving) assembly line in its Piquette Plant? When I visited the T-PLEX this summer, I was told that they pulled the vehicles along. How much earlier had Olds employed the idea? I am curious.

**Detroitnerd** · January-08-10, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by cman710

Ndavies, didn't Ford use the [[non-moving) assembly line in its Piquette Plant? When I visited the T-PLEX this summer, I was told that they pulled the vehicles along. How much earlier had Olds employed the idea? I am curious.

No. Piquette was where the system was pioneered thought through and developed [[using ropes) for HP, not implemented at Piquette.

**MJCMEX** · January-08-10, 01:59 PM

These are exactly my reasons for being so interested in Detroit.

I am not coming to stare ghoulishly at the decay. I am honestly interested in the historical depth of the city.

**Ragtoplover59** · January-08-10, 02:17 PM

Not sure of the year, But I think Detroit was the first city to have a traffic light.

actually [[ after a look @google ) it seems that a Detroit Police Officer added the amber light to the mix.

**DetroitPlanner** · January-08-10, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by Gsgeorge

1941. First urban depressed freeway - Davison Fwy - is constructed, spurring the development of no less than three more major interstates in the city.

Keep em coming! There are more!

I-96 is not a major interstate, in fact it should not be considered an interstate at all as it is not interstate, it is intrastate.

First drunken broadcaster to challenge the mayor to a fistfight on television.
First place to have a Wayne University.
First JL Hudson Store
First City to have an island as a park in the middle of an international waterway that has canals, a reflecting pool, and bays.
I can go on.....

**ndavies** · January-08-10, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by cman710

Ndavies, didn't Ford use the [[non-moving) assembly line in its Piquette Plant? When I visited the T-PLEX this summer, I was told that they pulled the vehicles along. How much earlier had Olds employed the idea? I am curious.

Olds built the Curved dash oldsmobile in 1901. It is considered the first mass produced assembly line vehicle. Ford Motor was founded in 1903. The Piquette plant was built afterward.

**Downtown Lady** · January-08-10, 06:33 PM

I thought Detroit was the first city to host the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same year [[2006) but, alas, my research tells me it was San Diego in 1998. I think all of you sports fans already knew that.

How about the first city to host the Super Bowl, the World Series and the WNBA championships in the same year? I think I'm stretching a bit...

**Ed Golick** · January-08-10, 07:44 PM

First radio station, depending on what source you believe.

**Whitehouse** · January-08-10, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by Ragtoplover59

Not sure of the year, But I think Detroit was the first city to have a traffic light.

actually [[ after a look @google ) it seems that a Detroit Police Officer added the amber light to the mix.

Here it is:

1920 - The first four-way traffic signal with red, green and amber lights appeared in Detroit. Designed by William L. Potts of the Detroit Police Department, the light was placed at the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Fort Street. Within a year, Detroit had installed a total of fifteen of the new automatic lights.

So, that was just in front of City Hall.

**Gsgeorge** · January-08-10, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Ed Golick

First radio station, depending on what source you believe.

More on this, Ed?

These are all great! keep them coming. Here is another, maybe a stretch...

- 1929 - The Ambassador Bridge is the first longest suspension bridge in the world to span an international boundary.

**Whitehouse** · January-08-10, 08:27 PM

1920 - GMC became the first company to develop research laboratories under the direction of Charles Kettering.

1924 - J. L. Hudson's in Detroit became the first air-conditioned department store.

More Michigan firsts.

Ravine · January-08-10, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by Gsgeorge

More on this, Ed?

These are all great! keep them coming. Here is another, maybe a stretch...

- 1929 - The Ambassador Bridge is the first longest suspension bridge in the world to span an international boundary.

WWJ [[950 AM) claims to be the first radio station, but maybe Ed was hedging because he suspects [[as do I) that such a claim could be the subject of endless debate.

And you know how much we hate endless debates, around here.
*ahem*

LodgeDodger · January-08-10, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by Ravine

WWJ [[950 AM) claims to be the first radio station, but maybe Ed was hedging because he suspects [[as do I) that such a claim could be the subject of endless debate.

And you know how much we hate endless debates, around here.
*ahem*

Yeah, they're some of the most sustainable things around here...

**milesdriven** · January-09-10, 10:06 AM

June 17, 2010: Fist bar closes due to Michigan's over-reaching smoking ban that won't even let people smoke on outside patios.

**Ragtoplover59** · January-09-10, 11:10 AM

Thanks Whitehouse!

**phactreerat** · January-09-10, 10:40 PM

From Michigan.gov:
http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7...1896--,00.html
1849 - The Michigan State Fair was the first state fair in the United States.
1855 - Michigan State University was founded as the nation's first land-grant university and served as the prototype for 69 land-grant institutions later established under the Morrill Act of 1862. It was the first institution of higher learning in the nation to teach scientific agriculture.
1872 - Elijah J. McCoy, a black inventor raised in Ypsilanti, patented the first automatic lubrication system for locomotives and other machinery. The device was so effective it was difficult to sell imitations that were not "the real McCoy"; McCoy's name became synonymous with anything genuine or authentic.
1879 - Detroit telephone customers were first in the nation to be assigned phone numbers to facilitate handling calls.
1939 - The Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first air-conditioned car.

**Whitehouse** · January-10-10, 12:17 AM

Found another one.

1933 - First ever radio broadcast of "The Lone Ranger". It later became popular as a TV show and subject of movies. [[WXYZ)

That "Real McCoy" story was debunked as a fabel. The origin of that term lies in Scotland.

**Ed Golick** · January-10-10, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by Ravine

WWJ [[950 AM) claims to be the first radio station, but maybe Ed was hedging because he suspects [[as do I) that such a claim could be the subject of endless debate.

From this article: http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/wwj1.htm

Several have challenged WWJâ€™s claim as the first commercial radio station, foremost is KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which began broadcasting on November 2, 1920 [[nearly 11 weeks after WWJ. KDKA did receive the first commercial license from the government on October 27, 1920 nearly a year before WWJ received their license from the government. However, the father of radio, famed inventor Lee DeForest, appears to have settled the dispute in 1936 when he said: "On the night of August 20, 1920, the first commercial radio station in all the world was opened. And every night and every day since that momentous beginning WWJ has maintained this service."