David L Porter

Multiple boat storage and service facilities lining the Detroit River are transforming into Stanton Yards, a forthcoming waterfront arts destination spearheaded by Library Street Collective co-founders JJ and Anthony Curis. The development is part of the ambitious partners’ new arts corridor Little Village in Detroit’s East Village neighborhood. Once completed, Stanton Yards will be directly […]

Imagine if the world’s longest trail (located in Canada) connected people even further, into another country, via Michigan’s longest trail. That happened last month when the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority announced that the Gordie Howe International Bridge would become part of a binational trail system. When the initial discussions for a potential new bridge connecting

As we celebrate the completion of the Riverwalk to include the link along the former Uniroyal site adjacent to the Belle Isle Bridge, it is appropriate and fitting to acknowledge the roots of this wonderful people-space along the Detroit River. In large part, the Riverwalk has been completed due to the public-private partnership established by

In 1929, the longest suspended central span bridge in the world at that time – The Ambassador Bridge – was completed linking Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. It is the busiest United States/Canada truck crossing, handling 8,000+ trucks and 68,000 travelers a day. With the ongoing construction of the new Gordie Howe Bridge, it is important

Today, the Detroit River is much cleaner, and sentinel wildlife species have returned. It is good to look back at the 1960s pollution of the river, notably oil pollution, and recognize how far we have come. However, we still have much work to do, including developing a stewardship ethic. During the 1940s, Detroit River oil pollution

The terrain covering Grosse Ile’s Hennepin Point, at first blush, appears like any other of the myriad areas around Michigan’s Great Lakes shorelines. Brush and trees grow among patchworks of sand, and the crystal blue Detroit River flows past on either side of the point. 

In 1945, Sarah Elizabeth Ray was denied passage on a ferry on the Detroit River because she was Black. She fought the injustice, and her case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. For decades, Sarah’s trailblazing civil rights role was nearly forgotten, as was her work later in life as a community

For over 100 years the Detroit River was perceived as a working waterway that supported industry and commerce. As such, its shoreline was progressively hardened with concrete seawalls, steel sheet piling, or re-purposed broken concrete. This stabilized the shoreline, helped protect against erosion, and allowed for safe industrial and commercial development. But it came at

In downtown Detroit, 501 Third Avenue is known today as Steve Yzerman Drive and houses a Detroit People Mover station. But in the 1800s, the site played an important part in Detroit’s history as a major railway also serving as a stop on the Underground Railroad for slaves seeking freedom across the border into Canada.