1876 Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Wayne, Michigan

This facsimile reproduces the Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Wayne, Michigan, originally published in 1876 by H. Belden & Co. of Chicago. In this reprint, the maps are reproduced in full color, while the lithographic views, portraits, and index pages appear in black and white. Issued during the year of America's centennial, the atlas captures Wayne County at a pivotal moment in its development — Detroit had grown from a frontier fur-trading post into a thriving industrial city on the eve of its transformation into the automotive capital of the world, and the surrounding county had become one of the most agriculturally and commercially productive regions of Michigan. H. Belden & Co. specialized in illustrated subscription county atlases produced across the Midwest and Canada in the 1870s and 1880s, and the Wayne County volume is among the most ambitious and visually rich of the series.

Summary of Contents

The atlas opens with a general historical sketch covering the early settlement of Wayne County, followed by hemisphere maps and a state map of Michigan. The principal cartographic content includes township maps covering Brownstown, Canton, Dearborn, Ecorse, Greenfield, Grosse Point, Hamtramck, Huron, Livonia, Monguagon, Nankin, Plymouth, Redford, Romulus, Springwells, Sumpter, Taylor, and Van Buren townships — many of which have since been absorbed into the city of Detroit and its inner-ring suburbs.

The City of Detroit is presented in detail across multiple plates, and the atlas includes village and town plats for Belden, Belleville, Dearbornville, Delray, Denton's, Flat Rock, Grand Port, New Boston, Norris, Northville, Plymouth, Rawsonville, Rockwood, South Trenton, Trenton, Waltz, Waterford, Wayne, and Wyandotte.

The atlas is extensively illustrated with lithographic views of more than 100 residences, farms, mills, factories, schools, hotels, and commercial establishments throughout the county, including E.W. Cottrell's Maple Lawn Fruit Farm, L.R. Brown's Locust Grove Farm, T. Langley's Ingleside Residence, the Clippert & Daniel's Brick Yard and Manufactory, the County Asylum and Poor House, James Stewart's Flouring Mill, the Tremont House at Wayne (proprietor D.B. Newkirk), St. Mary's School and Priest's Residence, F.W. Barbour's celebrated horse "Bay Morgan," and Birdseye View of Norris. The views document the architecture, industry, and daily life of Wayne County's prosperous residents and businesses on the cusp of Detroit's industrial era.

A Patrons' Directory lists subscribers organized by township and city ward, providing biographical and occupational information that makes the atlas an exceptionally rich resource for family research. The view index alone contains hundreds of named property owners, businessmen, farmers, and civic leaders.

78 pages. 8.5" x 11". Color.