written of Detroit would say that the site of the city was first occupied in 1701, when the French traders established a trading post at that point. The Indians, moreover, made it the place of rendezvous, and for years at certain seasons they there congregated in large numbers for the exchange of commodities and for fishing. Gradually the little settlement grew, and as time wore on it became the scene of many a historic event. Innumerable conflicts were had with the Indians, and later there was bloodshed between the French and the English over the possession of the place. Detroit's fortunes were variable. It was now

under French government, and then doing homage to the English. Afterwards, when the United States asserted itself, Detroit became the capital of the Territory, and later the State of Michigan. Now the seat of government is at Lansing, and Detroit, with a population of near 132,000, is the leading city of the State and among the most promising of the West. In 1810 the number of her inhabitants was only 770. This number, in 1840, was increased to 9,102, in 1860 to 40,137, and in 1880 to 116,342. Including her suburban connections there were, in 1882, upwards of 169,620 persons who in reality belong to the city.

of Detroit is on the north bank of the Detroit river, from which river the city derives its name. The country at this point rises gradually from the river until in the western and northern portions of the city the elevation is 40 to 50 feet above the level of the water. This elevation, which is attained so gradually as to almost escape the notice of the visitor, affords excellent opportunities for perfect drainage, and this being taken advantage of by the civic authorities, the city enjoys the reputation of having the cleanest and most wholesome streets of any city approaching her size in the country. The city itself has a water frontage of six miles and a depth of three and one-half miles. Of this depth all but about one mile is quite closely built up, and mainly with new and modern buildings, many of which were erected at great cost. The streets of the city are broad, and are laid out, as a general thing, to run parallel or at right angles to the river, which at this point runs from the northeast to the southwest. From the center of the city there are, however, several main thoroughfares that radiate as the spokes of a wheel, furnishing more direct communication with the outskirts than were they laid out otherwise. A boulevard is in the course of construction, which will furnish an admirable drive around the city. The streets are well protected with shade trees and are paved with wood, excepting on some of the business thoroughfares, where the heavy teaming has made a stone pavement desirable. Machine street sweepers are used, which every night, in open weather, pick up all the dirt and dust that may have accumulated during the day.

consists of a common council, with a mayor at its head, and various municipal boards, which are subject to the former. The police force is large and well organized; while the fire department is one of the most perfect of any in the country. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent annually in maintaining and improving these two departments of public safety, and the time has come when criminals fight shy of the city, and disastrous fires are a thing of extremely rare occurrence.

of the city, one sees every race on earth represented, and hears all manner of languages spoken. The people as a body are cultured and of means. Arts and amusements are fostered, and during the winter season the city is ablaze with social enjoyments. The churches, of all denominations, are numerous, and the right hand of fellowship is

extended to all strangers. Opera houses and theaters are numerous enough to provide adequate means for evening entertainment. Eight street car lines give transportation to all parts of the city, while the coupe and carriage service is complete and the charges reasonable.

To the visitor the city soon becomes most enchanting as a place for quiet rest and enjoyment. Detroit bears the reputation of being a residence town, and it is an undisputed

fact that the number of persons of means who have sought this as a place for their homes is comparatively greater than of almost any other city. After leaving the center of the city, let the visitor go in whatsoever way he will, he finds elegant residences with spacious grounds, betokening the presence of wealth and culture. For several miles on some of the streets do these costly and attractive residences abound, while every year more are added to their number. Several attractive parks are located near the center of the city, but as has often been remarked, the shade trees are so numerous and luxuriant that the city in itself is almost a park. The places of interest in the city may be enumerated as follows:

The City Hall, a massive stone structure, built at a cost of $600,000, from the tower of which a most extensive view of the city and adjacent country may be had.

The Soldiers and Sailors' Monument, in front of the City Hall, an elaborate affair of granite and bronze.

Two cannons, relics of the fleet which, under the command of Com. Perry, did such effectual service on Lake Erie during the war of 1812, are on the grounds of the City Hall.

The Public Market Buildings, opposite the City Hall.

The Detroit Opera House, fronting the Campus Martius.

Whitney's Grand Opera House, corner Fort and Shelby streets.

Music Hall, corner Randolph and Monroe.

The Public Library, in Center Park, completed at a cost of $125,000, with a well stocked library.

A ride out Woodward avenue shows the immense retail stores of the city, the more notable of which are the dry goods establishments of Newcomb, Endicott & Co., and Taylor, Woolfenden & Co. Further along one passes through the Grand Circus Park, which was originally intended as the center of the city, and from which it will be observed the streets radiate in all directions. The streets, however, are not long ones, excepting Woodward and Adams avenues, for the City Fathers found that the course they were pursuing would soon lead to confusion, and changed their plans to streets crossing each other at right angles. The Grand Circus Park is cut in twain by Woodward avenue, and each side is furnished with fountains, shade trees and settees. The

remainder of Woodward avenue, for a distance of nearly three miles, is noted chiefly for its fine places of residence.

Jefferson avenue, running at right angles to Woodward avenue, contains the many wholesale and jobbing houses of the city, beyond which it extends for two miles and more with the residences of wealthy and prominent citizens. This avenue, as well as Woodward avenue, is 120 feet in width, and paved its entire length.

Fort street, a residence thoroughfare, runs west from the City Hall, and is one of the oldest and most popular streets.

Other streets that should be visited for the sake of viewing handsome and imposing residences are: Alfred and Edmund streets, both running east from Woodward avenue; Cass avenue, running parallel and to the west of Woodward avenue; and Lafayette avenue, running parallel and to the north of Fort street.

The House of Correction, on Russell street, in the northeast part of the city, and to which noted criminals from the different parts of the country are sent, is also worthy of a visit.

The Water Works Reservoir is near the House of Correction,and is a point of interest.

The Water Works Pumping Engines are among the largest in the country. They are situated out Jefferson avenue a distance of about five miles, and a drive to them carries one along the river front and is enjoyable.

The Union Depot Grain Elevator, an institution capable of caring for 1,300,000 bushels of grain, is the largest elevator in Michigan, and will furnish entertainment for an hour's visit. It is at the foot of Twelfth street.

The Michigan Central Depot, at the foot of Third street, where the trains of the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad arrive and depart, is now in the course of construction, and when completed will be one of the most imposing structures of its kind in the country. Its cost will be not far from $200,000.

The Cemeteries are two in number. Elmwood Cemetery is situated in the extreme eastern portion, and Woodmere in the extreme western portion of the city. Both are accessible by means of the Fort Wayne & Elmwood cars, and are visited annually by thousands.

Fort Wayne, a military post, is one of the most interesting and picturesque places in the neighborhood of the city, and being readily reached by means of the Fort Wayne & Elmwood street cars, cannot fail to be of interest to all visitors.

Griswold street, the Wall street of Detroit, contains many massive structures worthy of a visit. Among them are the Chamber of Commerce, where is situated the Board of Trade; the Newberry & McMillan building, in which are the headquarters of the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad ; the new Postoffice, in course of construction at a cost of $600,000; and the High School, at the head of the street.

and the greatest of a dozen popular summer resorts, and the wealth of luxuries and privileges she offers at a nominal figure may be seen by a perusal of the following extract from the columns of the Detroit Free Press:

The summer season is here at last and the hot weather is being experienced everywhere. In consequence a popular topic just now is: “Where shall we go to escape the heat and secure pleasure and comfort?”

In considering the subject thought naturally turns to Detroit as one of the most complete and desirable of summer resorts in the world, possessing, as it does, all of the requirements of a popular watering place, and in addition, all of the advantages and luxuries of a city home. Unquestionably Detroit is the best drained and handsomest city in the United States, a fact which is admitted by all persons who, by reason of extended travel and close observation, are best fitted to judge. With her broad streets—including over fifty miles of paved roadway—her dozen of more of parks, miles of densely shaded walks and hundreds of beautiful homes, besides a large number of fine public and private buildings, Detroit courts comparison with any other city in the Union. In addition to all of these required beauties she is most extravagantly favored by Nature.

which is within ten minutes' ride of almost any part of the city, gives in the summer time immediate escape from the intense heat, the dust and the noise of the city, and this luxury is within the reach of all.

For ten cents a person may ride back and forth between Windsor and Detroit or Belle Isle Park and the city, all the afternoon and evening. For fifty cents or less rides may be taken through Lake St. Clair and the river of that name, or down the Detroit river to the Wyandotte Mineral Spring Hotel, or further to the historical precincts of Amherstburg and Put-in-Bay. In fact, there are a dozen or more popular, healthful and beautiful resorts within from one to three hours of Detroit, and the cost of making a trip to any of them is merely nominal.

Beside this, Detroit is well provided with hotels and desirable private boarding houses, and for those visitors so inclined, offers many points of general public interest. For instance, the Detroit Public Library and the House of Correction are among the finest institutions of the kind in the country, while Elmwood Cemetery, Bloody Run and the Pontiac tree, Fort Wayne, the large stove manufactories, chemical laboratories, car shops, shoe factories, tobacco warehouses and other enterprises are well worth a visit, when by reason of a cool day the visitor has a day off from the river. Briefly no time need be wasted and no one need be uncomfortable or at a loss for something to do when in Detroit.

Citizens and visitors never tire of talking of the beauties of Michigan's straits, the like of which in all the States cannot be found. On the Detroit River Belle Isle Park—

belonging to the city—is the first gem bestowed by nature. Here dozens of pic-pic parties may be seen any day, while thousands of men, women and children in pairs, in family parties, and alone, seek the shade and comfort of the island. Below the city of Detroit are the Wyandotte Mineral Springs, with their capacious hotel and bath houses for the healing of the invalid. Farther down and across the river, picturesque Grosse Isle, Sugar Island and Bois Blanc Island serve as beauty's borders to quaint old Amherstburg on the Canadian shore. Extending the ride for an hour or more across Lake Erie and the excursionist may visit Kelley's Island, with its wondrous vineyards and winecellars, and Put-in-Bay Island, with its beach, its hotels, its drives and its society.

Going up the river from Detroit is a ride across Lake St. Clair, the most beautiful body of water in the great chain of inland seas, through the St. Clair Flats and the great government canal, and along the length of the St. Clair River, the banks of which are crowded with pretty villages, handsome villas and romantic bits of woodland. The resorts to be visited on this side are the houses of the fishing and shooting clubs; the Star Island Hotel, with its four or five boats each way per day, and an unlimited field for sailing and fishing; the mineral springs and grand hotel at the pretty village of St. Clair, with pure air, a full view of all the shipping of the lakes, and society second to that of no summer resort in the country. Lastly comes Port Huron with its government protection—Fort Gratiot—a view of the mouth of stormy Lake Huron, and streets, buildings and business enterprises of a pleasant city.

Leaving Detroit by rail on any morning, a ride of from two to three hours will take the tourist either to Orion, Orchard or Walled Lake, any one of which is as pretty a little inland resort as could be wished, and all of them are supplied with hotels and liberal accommodations for hunting, fishing and shooting. Then, too, there is Mt. Clemens, which may be reached in an hour by rail, or in three hours by boat, the last named route being up the oddest bit of crooked marine thoroughfare to be seen anywhere. Mt. Clemens has also mineral springs whose healing qualities are famous, and suitable hotel accommodations to make the place most popular.

Immediately across Lake St. Clair from the mouth of Clinton River, which flows from Mt. Clemens, is the Thames, the Canadian counterpart of the Clinton, crooked, quiet and picturesque, and up the Thames, after a three hours' ride from Detroit, the tourist may visit Chatham, one of the prettiest and busiest towns in the Dominion.

Thus, with Detroit as the chief resort, there are a dozen or more desirable resorts to be visited on any day, either by boat or rail, each journey being cheap, pleasant and desirable, bringing the traveler back for the night. If there is another city in the country which can show so great a variety of resorts, which may be visited so comfortably and at so little cost, it has yet to be made known.

The resorts of most large cities are from four to twenty-four hours away, and in this peculiarity Detroit compares with any of them, as a ride by boat of twenty-four hours will land the passengers at Mackinaw—a world-famed resort; a ride of twelve or fifteen hours by rail takes one to the Grand Traverse region with its trout streams, its inland chain of lakes and the Petoskey camp-meeting ground; and going east by rail, Niagara Falls may be reached in eight hours. Truly it would seem that parties in selecting a place in which to pass the summer as comfortably as possible, with a desire

to see and enjoy as much as possible for a reasonable outlay, would select Detroit above all others, and the increase of visitors and transient residents in Detroit shown every summer is undeniable proof that the facts set forth are rapidly coming to be appreciated in all parts of the country, particularly in the Southern and Southeastern States.

The city of Detroit holds a most prominent position. She is situated in close proximity to the sources of supply of lumber, iron and copper, and the country around is sufficiently thickly settled to furnish an ample demand for all the goods manufactured. Besides the inquiry from the residents of the adjacent country, there is a large demand from cities throughout the United States and Canada for the goods turned out by Detroit concerns. According to recently published statistics, there are in the city of Detroit 986 manufacturing establishments, involving a capital of $20,923,700, and whose products equal $48,459,196 in the aggregate. The number of persons to whom employment is given by all these establishments is 25,563, to whom is annually paid $9,005,438 as wages. All kinds of goods are here turned out, and many a day can be spent enjoyably and profitably in visiting the shops and factories. To those who have never seen the modus operandi of turning out the many articles of necessity and luxury used by the people, the sight is one worthy of witnessing, and what is more, the business men of this city are only too glad to show. Here one can see made all articles of clothing, machinery, stoves, furniture, confectionery, and a dozen or more other things that go to make up a manufacturing center. For the making of boots and shoes there are 70 establishments, there are 70 more for tobacco and cigars, the American Eagle Tobacco Co., successors to the old and well-known house of K. C. Barker & Co., being the largest fine cut and smoking tobacco manufactory in the West, 27 for machinery, 35 for furniture, 3 for stoves, 13 for confectionery, and so on to the end of an almost inexhaustible list. The retail and wholesale establishments dealing in the various staples of the country are no less numerous than the manufacturing places, and sell goods far and near. As a grain distributing point Detroit is one of considerable importance. During the year 1882 there were received here 18,433 cars of grain, of which 14,923 cars were of wheat. There are four grain elevators, having a total capacity of 2,600,000 bushels. These elevators, during the year 1882, handled 6,442,899 bushels of wheat, 1,196,351 bushels of corn, 1,359,958 bushels of oats, and 7,061 bushels of rye. On the Board of Trade the bulls and bears sold 7,164,000 bushels of wheat for immediate delivery and 115,016,000 bushels in options, making a total business for the year of 122,120,000 bushels.

The Oakland , as a hotel, is an admirable realization of its design, which was— to provide abundant first-class accommodation for those seeking the benefits of the Spring, and for summer visitors and pleasure seekers .

Its architecture is of the general Swiss style. Its broad verandahs are a characteristic feature, their total length (including bath house) being over 800 feet.

The Bath-House is so arranged and so connected with the hotel that guests passing to and from their baths are not exposed to change of temperature.

“The Bath-Rooms at The Oakland are, without question, the Finest Public Bath-Rooms in the United States. ” Of these there are thirty. The gentlemen's have convenient wardrobes , while each ladies' bath-room has a private dressing room —a convenience every lady will appreciate and which, it is believed, forms a favorable contrast with every other bathing establishment in the country . The ladies' and gentlemen's departments are entirely separate, each having a reception room and a parlor. The bath-tubs are porcelain lined . Beside other conveniences, the bath-rooms are supplied with large, handsome mirrors and electric call bells. There are also two swimming or plunge baths , for ladies and gentlemen respectively.

“ Proper Amusement a Promoter of Health ” is a doctrine in which the Oakland Management are firm believers. Beside the customary In-door Games and Amusements —including social and musical entertainments, the Swimming Baths, the Bowling Alley (in a separate building) and the Billiard Parlor—the Oakland Grounds are peculiarly adapted to all Out-Door Games . Of other Out-Door Recreations we have, first, that time-honored, healthful recreation, Walking —for which this region is peculiarly adapted. Next, Riding and Driving . The roads are generally good, free from stones and sand. The drive along the river is exceptionally fine. Of Boating , in its varieties, there is no end, the Oakland Boat House being within a stone's throw. The steamer trip to Detroit is most charming. One of the finest and swiftest private steam yachts in the country—owned and commanded by Mark Hopkins. Esq., is out frequently, seldom failing to have on board Oakland guests. Good Hunting and Fishing are within easy reach. The duck hunting on “the St. Clair Flats” is famous. Fish of five to nine pounds are frequently caught near The Oakland . There are the usual opportunities for River Bathing . For Rambles and Pic-Nics few localities offer equal attractions.