Diagonal alley in Hamtramck

[Llama]

In the diagram immediately above, that alley line looks like it could be drawn along the true north-south axis, whereas everything else would just be parallel to surrounding streets.

[mtburb]

In the diagram immediately above, that alley line looks like it could be drawn along the true north-south axis, whereas everything else would just be parallel to surrounding streets.

Actually, that is not the north-south axis, the true axis is along the diagonal line at the bottom right corner of the second map in the post above yours, which is a gridline of the Public Land Survey System that present-day Conant divides from the Ten Thousand Acre grid.

[Scottathew]

In the diagram immediately above, that alley line looks like it could be drawn along the true north-south axis, whereas everything else would just be parallel to surrounding streets.

Good guess, but below is True-North, it's not even remotely close.

This is one of the most fascinating topics that I've ever followed on this board. I really hope we get some kind of break-through as to a reason why.

[Király]

Wow, I'm glad my question generated such interest!

There is an interesting difference between the two maps. The 1876 Wayne County atlas shows the skewed line between lots 30 and 31 corrected once it gets up to lots 34 and 39. But the 1885 map [[is this also Wayne County atlas?) shows it continues in its skewed direction up there. Was the line adjusted sometime during those 9 years or is one of the maps wrong?

A few other things about the two maps don't match either, like the length of lots 28-33.

[ferndalien]

I love this thread so much. It's amazing what gets noticed, and the resources people here have to dig back in time!

Related: Read this late last year on how building shapes in LA reflect a streetscape that no longer exists. I'm sure some of you on this thread will enjoy it too:
http://www.bldgblog.com/2015/12/ghos...f-los-angeles/

[Brock7]

Wow, I'm glad my question generated such interest!

There is an interesting difference between the two maps. The 1876 Wayne County atlas shows the skewed line between lots 30 and 31 corrected once it gets up to lots 34 and 39. But the 1885 map [[is this also Wayne County atlas?) shows it continues in its skewed direction up there. Was the line adjusted sometime during those 9 years or is one of the maps wrong?

A few other things about the two maps don't match either, like the length of lots 28-33.

The 1885 map is from a Detroit atlas which was produced by a different publisher than the Wayne County atlases.

Links for accessing or downloading the atlases at archive.org are in this post:
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...664#post383664

A link for the 1855 Wayne Co./Detroit map is in this thread:
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...y-Detroit-Maps


I was only able to find two plats that that include that line, but they show that it did extend to Caniff[[Four Mile).

To see the following plats the java plugin needs to be installed and enabled in your browser.

For lots 37 & 38:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/platmaps...C_SUBINDEX=586

For lots 30 & 39:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/platmaps...C_SUBINDEX=549


Search site for Michigan plats is here:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/platmaps/sr_subs_adv.asp

[Király]

I superimposed MikeM' 1915 Sanborn map with Google's aerial view. Interesting to see how some of the lots line up and how some are off by exactly half a lot. The continuation of the diagonal alley line for the most part lines up.

[deleted image]

EDIT:

Sorry, I made a mistake when overlaying the two images. Here it is fixed and everything lines up:


Original wrong image below:

[Hermod]

The 1885 map is from a Detroit atlas which was produced by a different publisher than the Wayne County atlases.

Links for accessing or downloading the atlases at archive.org are in this post:
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...664#post383664

A link for the 1855 Wayne Co./Detroit map is in this thread:
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...y-Detroit-Maps


I was only able to find two plats that that include that line, but they show that it did extend to Caniff[[Four Mile).

To see the following plats the java plugin needs to be installed and enabled in your browser.

For lots 37 & 38:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/platmaps...C_SUBINDEX=586

For lots 30 & 39:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/platmaps...C_SUBINDEX=549


Search site for Michigan plats is here:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/platmaps/sr_subs_adv.asp

Just a "maybe" but the guy who owned a large piece might have split his land in two along a diagonal line which represented a ditch or a hedge line and sold one part to another party. Two heirs may have split the land again along some sort of recognizable feature.

[1953]

The house at the SE corner of Trowbridge and Gallagher [[3112 and 3118 Trowbridge) has always struck me as odd, too. I would concur that it might pre-date the neighborhood. Not sure if this has something to do with the crazy lot lines, but interesting nonetheless.

[Király]

Another overlay shows why the house at 3232 Yemans is narrower than any other on that street.