Mystery behind these diagonal streets

[mtburb]

On a 1930's Detroit map, I noticed several diagonal streets which I'm sure no longer exist, such as one named "Sunset" in present-day Oak Park, a planned "Wabash Highway" in Allen Park and one named "Hamilton", also in Allen Park.

This map is what I'm talking about: https://picasaweb.google.com/Hornwre...930sDetroitMap

So what happened to these and other diagonal streets I didn't mention, such as Fordson Highway?

[jsmyers]

Interesting questions. Fordson is still there, though it is named Golfview for most of its length:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=detroi...55747&t=h&z=15

[jsmyers]

Hamilton is there there too, but only in a few segments here and there. Wabash is more complete, but is now known as Pinecrest. I notice that it parallels the routing of the Detroit Industrial Freeway [[I-94). Remember that this stretch is one of the oldest freeways.

[jsmyers]

Sunset is pretty much gone. Most of it was in Royal Oak Township. There is one tiny piece still:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=detroi...36049&t=h&z=16

I suspect is was chopped up and removed [[maybe from the plan, maybe from the ground) in order to keep through traffic away.

[jsmyers]

Did you notice that Stephenson Highway became I-75 in Hazel Park? Even the S-curve was there in 1930 when it was a surface street.

[gazhekwe]

There is a one block section of Sunset in Oak Park off Jerome south of Nine Mile west of Scotia. South of there it was built over with a school, Capital Street,. light industrial. There is evidence of the street in the curve of McClain Street north of Nine Mile going to Coolidge. Across Coolidge, Oak Park High School sits where Sunset once ran with the Civic Center across the street.

[mtburb]

Hamilton is there there too, but only in a few segments here and there.

These are evidence of Hamilton still around today.

1. Hamilton and Dixford: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll...12,224.65,,0,0

This is the easternmost remains of Hamilton. East of here, it ended at Outer Drive near the Pennsylvania Railroad crossing [[now Conrail Shared Assets), but there is no evidence since it is blocked by houses on Olive Street, the north branch of the Ecorse River, a church, Porter Street and a parking lot. Heading west, Hamilton intersects a short street signed as "not a thru street", Raupp Place. Then the road suddenly Ts with Dix Highway near Charter Street, this intersection had bus stops back when SMART route #185 ran on Dix [[as seen on Street View), but since 2007 SMART service on Dix has not returned. West of there, the only evidence is a telephone line spanning at an angle across Charter.

2. Frank between Council and Montie: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll...273.49,,0,5.15

This section of Frank Street between Council and Montie streets is unusual, because there are no houses on either side, just grass and there is also more evidence of Hamilton: an abandoned sidewalk which is hard to see in Street View but visible in the aerial shot. However, west of here the remnants stop at the back property line of homes along Wall Street, which happens to be the Allen Park city limits. Hamilton would cut through this plus the intersection of Wall and Montie, houses on Harlow, Roger and Stanley streets, the south end of a daycare center, Morris Street, more homes, Laurence Street, Brand Park, the College Street cul-de-sac, homes betwen College and Paris streets, a Chinese restaurant, Allen Road, Thunderbowl Lanes, a baseball field [[which would be the intersection with Quandt Street and Wabash [[Pinecrest), the Wabash Railroad line to Fort Wayne, IN [[today Norfolk Southern), trees, a railroad spur into a light industrial complex, more trees, the DT&I line to the Ford Rouge plant [[now Canadian National, ex-GT), the parking lot of a Baker College campus, I-94 and a low-rise apartment complex.

3. Hamilton and Parkside: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll...307.22,,0,3.03

Hamilton restarts here. Then it crosses three streets [[Shenandoah, Larme and Watson) before merging back into Outer Drive at the Southfield Freeway. Hamilton ends here.

[mtburb]

Sorry for the double post, just didn't want to ruin the above post!

I looked at that map again and at the intersection of Hoover and Saxony [[Toepfer) in Warren, there is an Industrial Superhighway that ran paraell to the GT railroad line [[now Canadian National), which was shown as complete up to 9 Mile Road, then reverts to planned, passing Stephens and then reverts back to complete just before ending at a T with 10 Mile Road.

[mtburb]

Triple post alert!

I know this is off topic, but on the 1930's map, in Lincoln Park, Dix Highway was called Vernor Highway.

[mtburb]

Quadruple post!

A short segment of Sunset Boulevard also exists in Lathrup Village, along Southfield between 12 Mile and I-696. Also in Lathrup Village is another diagonal street, Goldengate Drive.

[Meddle]

There are diagonal streets all over the Metro area so I'm not sure what the mystery is.

Note Littlefield and Esper streets in the area bounded by Wyoming, Schaefer, Joy & Warren.

[firstandten]

There are diagonal streets all over the Metro area so I'm not sure what the mystery is.

Note Littlefield and Esper streets in the area bounded by Wyoming, Schaefer, Joy & Warren.

former runways in the aviation district I gather ?

[jsmyers]

I've always been interested in Holden, south of Henry Ford Hospital. It seems that cutting it off with the Lodge prevented an opportunity to have a more interesting urban design in the area.

[mtburb]

I've always been interested in Holden, south of Henry Ford Hospital. It seems that cutting it off with the Lodge prevented an opportunity to have a more interesting urban design in the area.

Plus if you look on maps such as this, it used to extend down to what is now the intersection of Cass and Palmer streets.

[lafontaine]

Interesting questions. Fordson is still there, though it is named Golfview for most of its length:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=detroi...55747&t=h&z=15

Fordson Highway runs northwest near Telegraph and Joy while the Dearborn Fordson-Outer Drive-Golfview runs northeast.

[Danny]

After Judge Augustus Woodward made his street plan for Downtown Detroit to look like Washington D.C. [[ In which U.S. Congress forced him to redesign the street grid because no city in the US can't look like Washington D.C.) The diagonal streets in both the lower west and east side were created to look like ribbon farming grids. That street size was no smaller than an local alley because folks want to have easy walkable access to transpotation as a house drawn public carriage busses, electric trolleys, walk or ride their big wheel bicycles to the stores, going to work and run their errands and head back home. Along that diagonal street grids in Detroit's lower east and west sides were mixture of pre-victorial ranches, bungalows and woodframe colonials. Corktown and other homes in Detroit's lower east, west and southwest sides still have those homes either in tact or remain in shack formation. Most of the street names in that area were named after farmers and French families were design their own ribbon farming areas before the Brittish kick them out after the French-Indian War.

[Hrbisson]

Ha! A few years ago we lived one or two houses off the corner on Sunset in Oak Park.

[jerrytimes]

Years ago I had an old map and when I compared it to a Oak Park/Royal Oak Township map from today, there are a few pieces of the street still left. Some aren't named the same anymore, but when I laid the new one over the old you can see it.

[G-DDT]

What one friend once pointed out is that there was a French radial system with street development early on with Detroit, and then-phht! a big English grid system gets superimposed over it. "French-like" towns like Louisville or Rochester, NY have major streets that radiate outward like spokes.

The area of Cheyenne Littlefield MacKenzie [[remember that little girl from that 80's sitcom that stole America's heart? You remember don't you?) is dang awesome. In fact, either side of Tireman around there [[as well as Oakman Blvd. and nearby streets like Sorrento or Hartwell) are kept up surprisingly well. There are some homes that look just as cool as the "Kingsbury Castle" just prominently sticking out in Dearborn.https://www.google.com/search?q=king...8WWeFDOEJmM%3A

[Ray1936]

I've always been interested in Holden, south of Henry Ford Hospital. It seems that cutting it off with the Lodge prevented an opportunity to have a more interesting urban design in the area.

In the early sixties, I walked a beat on Holden, from West Grand Blvd. to the Lodge. It was a thriving little community back then, with many grocery and 5 & 10 stores, maybe a restaurant as I recall, yada yada yada. Hitsville USA, which just started up then, had its back facing Holden. It was a very stable area, although I still recall the damn pigeons shitting on me as I walked under the RR overpass just west of the Lodge.

[Ltdave]

...[[ In which U.S. Congress forced him to redesign the street grid because no city in the US can't look like Washington D.C.) ...

really? whats the reasoning behind this "ruling"?

[Hermod]

The city of Detroit was based on three square grids [[plus Judge Woodward's radial roadsl). One is the ribbon farm grid based on the Detroit River. One is the ribbon farm grid based on lake St Clair, and one is the grid [[in the later annexed parts of the city) based on the E-W, N-S grid of the Northwest Survey. At the places these grids intersect, you will have diagonal roads.

[factoryrat]

I read somewhere that Louise Lathrup Kelly, wanted Sunset to extend from Lathrup Village to her home in Detroit.

[xdet]

When Henry Ford started construction on the Highland Park Plant in 1908 this article detailed what had to be cleared out.

That article comes from this publication-