What you didn’t know about Detroit, Michigan.
Detroit’s cultural and historical depth runs far beyond its reputation, layered with innovation, migration, music, craftsmanship, and some of the most important creative movements in American history.
This is the birthplace of Motown, a sound engineered in small rooms that would go on to reshape global music forever. It’s a city that helped build the middle class through the automotive boom, where assembly lines and industry shaped not just cars, but culture, rhythm, and daily life. Architecturally, Detroit holds one of the largest collections of early-20th-century skyscrapers in the country, many now restored to their original Art Deco brilliance. The city’s artistic undercurrent is massive: from world-class museums like the DIA to thousands of murals, maker studios, and underground creative collectives giving Detroit its unmistakable pulse. Its food scene is a blend of soul, Middle Eastern heritage, Coney classics, and new-wave culinary ambition. And its green spaces, from Belle Isle to miles of riverfront, reveal a city far more nature-connected than outsiders ever expect. Detroit’s depth isn’t loud; it’s lived-in, rooted, and profoundly real.
Five fascinations about Detroit.
5. Detroit is home to the world’s first paved road.
In 1909, a single mile of Woodward Avenue became the first stretch of paved concrete in the world, kicking off the era of modern roadways.
4. The city has its own island park.
Belle Isle, nestled in the Detroit River, is a 982-acre urban escape with woodlands, museums, and even a herd of roaming deer.
3. There’s an underground salt mine beneath the city.
More than 1,200 feet below Detroit lies an expansive salt mine that’s older than the dinosaurs and still active today.
2. Detroit has more murals than any other city in the U.S.
From the iconic “Heidelberg Project” to massive downtown wallscapes, the city has embraced public art as a form of storytelling and rebirth.
1. Motown’s original studio is open to the public.
Hitsville U.S.A., where legends like Stevie Wonder and The Supremes recorded their biggest hits, is now a museum, preserved exactly as it was in the 1960s.
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