Western City Limits

Since different maps show different things, is the western city limits of Detroit south of the railroad tracks [[where the boundary jumps east from Telegraph for a few blocks) West Parkway Street, itself, or a line through the backyards of the properties fronting the westside of West Parkway?

Speaking of this boundary, is there any interesting story behind why Detroit Diesel would have its employee parking lot on the Detroit side of the boarder, but the manufacturing facility in Redford? Is it really just as simple as it looks [[a tax dodge)?

In the 70s I bought a house on Hazelton near Joy rd. in Dearborn Hgts one block west of West Parkway. The people on the east side of Hazelton had an easement behind their garage and had to pay a small tax to Detroit.

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Originally Posted by Dexlin

Speaking of this boundary, is there any interesting story behind why Detroit Diesel would have its employee parking lot on the Detroit side of the boarder, but the manufacturing facility in Redford? Is it really just as simple as it looks [[a tax dodge)?

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Pretty much as simple as the bolded...

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Originally Posted by Wheels

In the 70s I bought a house on Hazelton near Joy rd. in Dearborn Hgts one block west of West Parkway. The people on the east side of Hazelton had an easement behind their garage and had to pay a small tax to Detroit.

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Yep. Judging by Detroit's zoning maps, the city boundary goes through the backyards of homes fronting Hazelton.

And also, the boundary doesn't follow the railroad tracks but instead lines up directly to the southern edge of those homes on what would be Fullerton if it [[or did) continue.

The administrative building of Detroit Diesel should be on the Detroit side of the border with the rest of the facility within Redford.

You can tell where the divide is by the pavement changes. It may actually be off the line by a few feet on some streets but otherwise should be pretty close.

http://goo.gl/maps/A9JNa

http://goo.gl/maps/2SILA

http://goo.gl/maps/OdHOL

http://goo.gl/maps/hYlN3 [[trees actually are on the divide here)

Thanks, all, for the quick responses. They were really helpful. So, the boundary actually goes through the backlots of the properties on Hazelton. Now, that's a story I'm interested in. How in the world did that happen?

It happened because human beings are actually pretty bad at keeping track of imaginary lines on the ground. Seriously.

As surveying technology improved, two reference points that people thought were aligned in 1926 might actually be off by 10 feet as found out by 21st century accuracy. This typically happens when city boundaries don't follow roads, rivers, or railroads. Even then, roads are altered, rivers change, and some railroads don't even exist anymore, but at most the boundary is changed to reflect the accuracy rather than changed to follow any existing paths at the time of the most accurate survey.

Not that it's a big of a deal anyway tax-wise. As another poster mentioned, properties split by the municipal boundary just have to pay a tax proportional to the amount of land split.

In the '50s, '60's, and so on, police cars that were assigned territories adjacent to any city limit were equipped with rather detailled engineering maps that very accurately described the city limits. The map folder was kept in the glove compartment. Wish I had liberated one of those when I retired, but such is life.

Is that [[territory) map included in the 'Streets of Detroit' "green"? map? My dad had one of those when he did performance testing for Cadillac in the '70s, it may still be around the house. A great thread starter would be to map all the anomalies [[Detroitography?), such as:

1. Harper Woods/Detroit around the St. John's plaza.
2. The area E of Wyoming thru the water plant and down to Baby Creek.
3. Why Detroit's border doesn't stop at Outer Drive, but rather across at the Ecorse River.
4. Fordson Island in Dearborn [[even after the trench).
5. Mack Ave in Grosse Pte/Detroit going back and forth across the line.
6. Where is the spot near Eastland where Eastpointe, Harper Woods, Detroit all come together?

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Originally Posted by wiz40

6. Where is the spot near Eastland where Eastpointe, Harper Woods, Detroit all come together?

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8 Mile and Kelly?

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Originally Posted by wiz40

Is that [[territory) map included in the 'Streets of Detroit' "green"? map? My dad had one of those when he did performance testing for Cadillac in the '70s, it may still be around the house. A great thread starter would be to map all the anomalies [[Detroitography?), such as:

1. Harper Woods/Detroit around the St. John's plaza.
2. The area E of Wyoming thru the water plant and down to Baby Creek.
3. Why Detroit's border doesn't stop at Outer Drive, but rather across at the Ecorse River.
4. Fordson Island in Dearborn [[even after the trench).
5. Mack Ave in Grosse Pte/Detroit going back and forth across the line.
6. Where is the spot near Eastland where Eastpointe, Harper Woods, Detroit all come together?

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They exist, to some extent, in the suburbs too.

Here are a few examples:
-The Southgate/Taylor limit running along the western shoulder of Allen Road instead of in the middle of the center left-turn lane.
-The Southgate/Wyandotte limit dosen't run through the northbound lanes of Fort Street, but rather in the median. This dates back to 1955.

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Originally Posted by wiz40

Is that [[territory) map included in the 'Streets of Detroit' "green"? map? My dad had one of those when he did performance testing for Cadillac in the '70s, it may still be around the house. A great thread starter would be to map all the anomalies [[Detroitography?), such as:

1. Harper Woods/Detroit around the St. John's plaza.

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That area was platted before the hospital expanded to its current footprint, obviously. Detroit's city limits follow Kingsville and this might be due to the fact this area was platted before 1926 when the state put in strict annexation powers. Although Detroit could have still annexed the area since it was a township, it was still mostly rural until the 1950s and probably wasn't a priority then. After the 1950s when growth started to take off, Detroit would have assuredly annexed the area had it not incorporated into Harper Woods and so we're left with a boundary at Kingsville.

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2. The area E of Wyoming thru the water plant and down to Baby Creek.

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Obviously the city limits follow what used to be the full extent of the creek. Of course now the creek has been mostly covered up but the city limits still follow that path.

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3. Why Detroit's border doesn't stop at Outer Drive, but rather across at the Ecorse River.

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That would be an inaccurate map. Detroit's border definitely stops at Outer Drive.

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4. Fordson Island in Dearborn [[even after the trench).

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Again, even when a river is altered, city limits don't often change with it.

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5. Mack Ave in Grosse Pte/Detroit going back and forth across the line.

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Possibly again a map inaccuracy.

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6. Where is the spot near Eastland where Eastpointe, Harper Woods, Detroit all come together?

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Technically speaking, it should be somewhere in that middle island at the intersection of 8 Mile and Kelly.

For some reason, the VA-Md border runs along the waters edge on the VA side of the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay down to the southern border of MD. MD used to allow slot machines and there were quite a few bars built out on stilts from the VA shoreline.

Borders are always a fascinating subject, twice fold on things like the Toledo strip war. For a real weird one, check out that semicircle that makes Delaware's northern boundary. They really don't know where the exact lines are any more.

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Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Yep. Judging by Detroit's zoning maps, the city boundary goes through the backyards of homes fronting Hazelton.

And also, the boundary doesn't follow the railroad tracks but instead lines up directly to the southern edge of those homes on what would be Fullerton if it [[or did) continue.

The administrative building of Detroit Diesel should be on the Detroit side of the border with the rest of the facility within Redford.

You can tell where the divide is by the pavement changes. It may actually be off the line by a few feet on some streets but otherwise should be pretty close.

http://goo.gl/maps/A9JNa

http://goo.gl/maps/2SILA

http://goo.gl/maps/OdHOL

http://goo.gl/maps/hYlN3 [[trees actually are on the divide here)

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In my telephone installer days, I worked in the DD facility from time to time. It was explained to me by people that worked there that those who worked in the admin building paid city tax, but those in the plant did not. If so the border runs down the alleyway between the two buildings.

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Originally Posted by Ray1936

Borders are always a fascinating subject, twice fold on things like the Toledo strip war. For a real weird one, check out that semicircle that makes Delaware's northern boundary. They really don't know where the exact lines are any more.

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You don't even have to go that far. Right here in Michigan, we don't even have an exact grasp of where our border with Indiana is, anymore, because of antiquated land surveys [[old wooden surveying spikes have rotted away or were vandalized). In fact, back in 2010 a whole commission was actually created to resurvey the stateline with Indiana called the Indiana-Michigan Boundary Line Commission under the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Because everyone forgot the commission existed, I don't believe it was actually properly funded until this year. The counties along the border on each side, I believe, are doled out the funds to do this, with the expectations that this will be done by 2018.

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Originally Posted by Dexlin

Since different maps show different things, is the western city limits of Detroit south of the railroad tracks [[where the boundary jumps east from Telegraph for a few blocks) West Parkway Street, itself, or a line through the backyards of the properties fronting the westside of West Parkway?

Speaking of this boundary, is there any interesting story behind why Detroit Diesel would have its employee parking lot on the Detroit side of the boarder, but the manufacturing facility in Redford? Is it really just as simple as it looks [[a tax dodge)?

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I do know that the Detroit Diesel offices are on the Detroit side and they all pay Detroit taxes. Not sure about the blue collar folks in the plant.