Discuss Detroit » Archives - July 2007 » Historic Township Maps « Previous Next »
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5854
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 4:11 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I know this has been discussed before, but does anyone know of any historic township maps showing the townships in Wayne County, and particularly the townships that are now part of the City of Detroit? (i.e. Springwells, Greenfield, Hamtramck...) Actually, they don't even have to be historic, as I'm sure they are still used as survey townships.

(Message edited by lmichigan on July 28, 2007)
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Mikeg
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Username: Mikeg

Post Number: 1030
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 9:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Michigan County Histories and Atlases contains this set of maps

1885 Atlas of the City of Detroit and suburbs: embracing portions of Hamtramck, Springwells and Greenfield Townships

plus others....
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Hudkina
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Username: Hudkina

Post Number: 28
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 11:00 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here's a map from 1922:

http://www.geocities.com/michh ist/wayne1922.jpg
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Saintme
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Username: Saintme

Post Number: 50
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 12:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Something is not right with that 1922 map. Wyandotte was incorporated as a city in 1867 and it's not listed.
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Scottr
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Username: Scottr

Post Number: 631
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 5:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Damn you mikeg. you just killed off my weekend with that link. damn you and my bizarre fascination with old maps.

thanks, actually :-)
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Hudkina
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Post Number: 29
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Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 8:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Regardless, that's how the townships looked prior to the "urbanization" of Wayne County.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5855
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Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 11:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thank you, all. Mike, are there any specific pages you could direct me to? I've always wondered, what is the story behind the division of Northvill and Plymouth Townships?

BTW, does anyone happen to know the square mileage of Detroit from 1910 up to the huge annexations ending in 1926?

An interesting fact I've found in my research is that the city was 39.3 square miles in 1907, which meant that the city was just over the size of your average survey township at the time (i.e. 36 square miles), but by 1910 with 465,000 people, had a population density updwards of 11,000 per square mile.

(Message edited by lmichigan on July 28, 2007)
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Hornwrecker
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Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1851
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Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 12:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)



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Hornwrecker
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Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1852
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Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 12:36 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit boundaries, 1901:



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Horn_wrecker
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Post Number: 22
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Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 12:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

1873



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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5857
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Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 2:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks, Horn. Do you know where I can find a more clear version of that first annexation map?
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Hornwrecker
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Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1853
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Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 11:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mikem posted that originally, so I don't know if a higher res version exists,sorry.
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Elsuperbob
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Username: Elsuperbob

Post Number: 18
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 1:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have some photos I took last year mainly focussing on what would become my Dearborn neighborhood at the then western border of Springwells Township. And then some of the other photos are from some research into what is now Cherry Hill Village. All the photos are from 1893.

You can probably get these atlases at the Detroit Public Library. I got these photos out of one at the UofM Map Library. There's nothing like flipping through the pages. I just don't get as much out of digitized maps.

Oh, and a warning, these are 5-6MB files so only attempt to download if you have highspeed. Or, if not, then it's the perfect time to enjoy a nice long meal while you download.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/ ~pamastro/maps.html/

And here's a listing of what they show.

797
Springwells along Michigan Ave.

798
All of Springwell

799
Alfred Woodworth Farm and Environs - Springwells

801
East side of now West Dearborn showing what would become Fairlane Estate and then UofM Dearborn and HFCC around the Frank Miller Farm

802
Downtown W. Dearborn

803
Mouth of Rouge River

805
Downtown Detroit

806
West Side of Detroit through Springwells

807
Detroit

810
Hamtramck-Detroit-Springwells

812
Detroit-Springwells

813
Dearborn

815
Canton

816
Canton with current site of Cherry Hill Village

817
Canton at Michigan Ave./Geddes Split
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 3412
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 12:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

LMichigan, here's a table showing the area of the city at each annexation:






A brief history of the two townships that you asked about, from Clarence Burton's "The City of Detroit"
quote:

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP

When this township was erected April 12, 1827, it included all of Congressional townships 1 and 2 south, range 8 east. Canton Township was cut off in 1834 and Northville in 1898, so that Plymouth is now only one-fourth as large as when first established. It embraces the south half of township 1 south, range 8 east; is bounded on the north by Northville Township; on the east by Livonia; on the south by Canton; and on the west by Washtenaw County. The surface is slightly rolling and is watered by branches of the River Rouge. With the exception of a few localities, the soil is well adapted to agriculture.

Abraham B. Markham, William Markham, David Phillips, Paul W. Hazen, Allen and William Tibbitts all settled in this township in 1825. Then came Daniel Baker, Alanson Aldrich, who entered the first land in 1824, but did not make any improvements until the following year, Samuel Gates, John Tibbitts, Gerrit Houghtaling, Erastus Hussey, Luther Lincoln, and Edwin Stuart. A few of these located in what is now Northville Township. Among the pioneers were several descendants of the Pilgrim fathers who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620, and the township was named after the settlement they established.

The first election was held at the house of John Tibbitts on Friday, May 25, 1827. William Bartow was elected supervisor; Allen Tibbitts, clerk; Erastus Starkweather, Roswell Root, and Henry Lyons, assessors; Abraham B. Markham, collector; Philo Taylor, justice of the peace.

Ample transportation is provided by two divisions of the Pere Marquette Railroad, which cross each other at the Town of Plymouth, and an electric line of the Detroit United Railways.


NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP

This township dates its corporate existence from the spring of 1898, when Plymouth Township was divided and the north half was erected into the Township of Northville, taking its name from the incorporated town situated within its limits. It occupies the extreme northwest corner of Wayne County, being bounded on the north by Oakland County; on the east by Livonia Township; on the south by Plymouth; and on the west by Washtenaw County. Its area is eighteen square miles.

The first settlements were made in this township while it constituted a part of Plymouth and its early history is given in connection with that township. The first officers were elected at the regular spring election in April, 1898, and were as follows: Charles A. Sessions, supervisor; Frank S. Harmon, clerk; Samuel W. Knapp, treasurer; Cassius R. Benton, commissioner of highways; Hiram Thayer, James K. Lowden, Frank Johnson, and Clarence L. Brigham, justices of the peace; Frank N. Perrin, Horace Green, Loren Haynes, and John C. Buckner, constables; Charles C. Chadwick and Charles Dubuar, school inspectors.

The Toledo and Bay City division of the Pere Marquette Railway system passes through the central part, and the Jackson branch of the Detroit United Railways connects the township with Detroit

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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 3413
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Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 12:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wayne County population broken down by city and township from the 1930 Wayne County Manual:






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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5861
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 1:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks, again, Mike! That's all very helpful and interesting.
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Bearinabox
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Username: Bearinabox

Post Number: 242
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 1:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Anyone know why Plymouth Township was split? Fascinating thread, regardless.
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Novine
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Username: Novine

Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 2:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For a statewide map, this has most of the historical ones that have been lost to time (Avon, Nankin, Paris) but for some reason, the Detroit ones are not shown.

http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spa tialdatalibrary/PDF_Maps/publi c_land_survey/mi_twp.pdf
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Burnsie
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Username: Burnsie

Post Number: 1100
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Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 3:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Another place to find old township maps is on eBay. There are many auctions of pages that have been ripped out of valuable 19th century atlases, often stolen from libraries & museums.
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Woodward
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Username: Woodward

Post Number: 25
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Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 4:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

How Plymouth Township Was Divided into Two Parts

On a Saturday morning in March of 1898, some 100 residents of Plymouth Township met in the Opera House in the Village of Northville to decide whether Northville should set up its own township. Arguments for separation included the inconvenient travel distance required of Northville residents in dealing with the Township Board offices in Plymouth Village, and the preferential maintenance attention which the bridges in the south part of the township received, compared to the bridges in the north end of the township. The distance problem was supported by the fact that only 12 south-end residents attended the north-end meeting.

When the vote was taken, it was 40 to 30 in favor of splitting Northville Township off from Plymouth Township. This final split reduced Plymouth Township from its original size of 72 square miles, down to its present size of 15.9 square miles. The Township of Northville and Plymouth are the only Michigan case of half-sized townships resulting from a split rather than annexation by a City.



http://www.ci.plymouth.mi.us/i ndex.asp?NID=300
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Novine
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Post Number: 4
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Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 11:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Anyone know why Detroit never annexed north of 8 Mile Road? It's odd that 8 Mile was the dividing line back then since clearly growth was occurring north of 8 Mile in RO Township as well as areas long the Macomb County border.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5874
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 12:03 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that it's division of counties. You'll find quite a few cities in the country that exist within more than one county, but it is definitely the exception to the rule. It complicates local government.
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Joebrazier
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Username: Joebrazier

Post Number: 6
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 9:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I believe Atlanta exists in two counties-Fulton and DeKalb?
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Novine
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Post Number: 6
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 9:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Many Michigan cities of various sizes cross county lines. Northville, Fenton, Midland and Holland to name a few. I'm surprised that it would be such a big issue back in the day. In the 1920s, I'm sure that County government was much weaker, especially in Oakland County. Consider that back in the 1920s, Detroit probably accounted for a significant percentage of the state's total population, to say nothing of SE Michigan.
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Scottr
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Post Number: 639
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 10:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

last i knew, fenton was entirely within genesee county.

While I'm sure it was completely possible, I would expect there would have been some additional difficulties in expanding outside Wayne County. Besides having to deal with an additional county government (which could have made it unattractive for the city to expand further), there may have been opposition to it by the state boundary commission or perhaps local opposition made any attempt likely to be unsuccessful. There may not have been anything written in law to prevent the city from expanding further, but that doesn't mean there weren't strong forces in play to prevent such a move.
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Novine
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 11:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Fenton annexed land from Holly Township a couple of years ago so it's now into Oakland County. It shows up on some of the more recent maps from OC.

I don't doubt there were issues with crossing county lines although the boundary commission was not one of them. It wasn't created until the late 1960s.
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Danny
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Username: Danny

Post Number: 6303
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 11:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wonder why Detroit didn't get the chance to annex the rest of Grosse Pointes, Gratiot TWP. The village of Hamtramck, Livonia, Redford TWP. Nankin, Taylor, Ecorse TWP and Dearborn?

If it did then Detroit would be much bigger than today with a 3 million population.
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Scottr
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Post Number: 641
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 12:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

okay, now that you mention that Novine, i see there were some mentions of it in 2003. i didn't know that.

Good point regarding the boundary commission's existance, i wasn't thinking about the old constitution at the moment. Although I imagine there could have been some state involvement, whether on a formal or informal level.
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Fareastsider
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Post Number: 504
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 1:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

New Baltimore used to be in St Clair County east of county line until 1979 when the residents in the SC county part of town voted to become part of Macomb Co. So now south of 25 mile rd County Line road is kind of a misleading road name. I remeber about 10 years ago the pointes and Harper Woods were discussing being part of Macomb as they felt segregated from the rest of Wayne and had more in common with MAcomb. They also felt their taxes would drop as they felt to much went to Detroit.
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Mikeg
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Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 3:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Anyone know why Detroit never annexed north of 8 Mile Road?


I cannot give you a definitive answer, but here is a likely set of reasons.

By 1930, Detroit's current physical boundaries had already been established and its population was about 1.5 million. At the same time, there were already 500,000 people living outside the City of Detroit in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties.

Here is a Nov. 1, 1930 aerial photo from the WSU Virtual Motor City web site, looking east along Eight Mile Rd. from Woodward.

Eight Mile from Woodward, 1930

In the distance, it is clear that there was no housing built yet in the areas north of Seven Mile and east of Dequindre.

In this July 11, 1931 aerial photo of Northwestern Hwy. looking out from Wyoming (also from the WSU Virtual Motor City site), there are a lot of empty subdivision lots and there are no subdivisions at all west of Schaefer and north of McNichols.:

Northwestern Hwy. 1931


Clearly, Detroit had annexed large areas of land in the late 1920's which had not yet been developed by the time the Depression hit. In the absence of the Depression, the boom times of the 20's would have caused those areas to have been developed within a few short years and the pressure to annex more township land would have continued, probably right across county lines. However, the reality was that most residential land on Detroit's north and northwest perimeter remained undeveloped during the 1930's. When the auto manufacturers and the US Government needed to quickly build large new factories in the late 1930's and early 40's, Detroit had no greenfield industrial land of sufficient size so they ended up getting built in places like Warren Twp. and Willow Run. Because of the war-time building restrictions, Federally-funded defense housing was just about the only new residential housing to get built, not just in Detroit but also near those new plants located just outside of Detroit. After the war by 1950 or so, all the vacant residential land on Detroit's perimeter was quickly built out, but so were the areas just across from the city limits.

From a political standpoint, it was probably then too late for Detroit to attempt to annex the growing suburban townships on its border, since they were no longer thinly-populated and they would be sure to fight to keep their there newly-expanded industrial tax base. More importantly, from a policy standpoint, further annexation was severely hampered by the Detroit Dept. of Water Supply's cautious approach to development. Back in 1938, L.G. Lenhardt, General Manager of the Dept. of Water Supply had proclaimed that the Department would concern itself with only taking care of what it already had. He advocated entry into the water and sewerage business by other government bodies - Wayne County, in particular - to serve needs created by suburban development [source]. This cautious policy approach continued until the 1956 arrival of Gerald J. Remus, the new Superintendent and Chief Engineer and we all know what happened after that.

(Message edited by Mikeg on July 31, 2007)

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