Detroit Historical Museum

The Detroit Historical Museum is located at 5401 Woodward Avenue in the city's Cultural Center Historic District in Midtown Detroit. It chronicles the history of the Detroit area from cobblestone streets, 19th century stores, the auto assembly line, toy trains, fur trading from the 18th century, and much more.

Attorney and historian Clarence M. Burton donated his collections to the Detroit Public Library in 1914 leading to the development of the Detroit Historical Museum. In December 1921, Burton brought together 19 prominent local historians to found the Detroit Historical Society, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the city’s history. In 1927, membership offices were leased and Society treasurer J. Bell Moran was appointed to set up a museum. A curator was hired and on November 19, 1928, the “highest museum in the world” opened in a one-room suite on the 23rd floor of the Barlum Tower, now the Cadillac Tower.

On July 24, 1951, the 250th anniversary of Detroit’s founding by Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac, the new museum was dedicated in an elaborate ceremony. In attendance were such dignitaries as Governor G. Mennen Williams, Mayor Albert E. Cobo, U.S. Senator Homer S. Ferguson, the French and British ambassadors and Detroit native and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ralph Bunche of the United Nations.

In 1949, the Detroit Historical Museum acquired one of the last commercial sailing vessels on the Great Lakes, the J. T. Wing. It operated the ship as a museum until 1956 when it shuttered because of its deteriorating condition. On July 24, 1961, it was replaced by the Dossin Great Lakes Museum which opened on Belle Isle Park as a branch of the Historical Museum devoted to maritime history.

From the 1949 through 2006, the museum also operated Fort Wayne, a former military installation constructed in 1845 on the banks of the Detroit River approximately 4 mi (6.4 km) southwest of the city's downtown area. Portions of the fort were deactivated after World War II and the barracks and fortification was turned over to the City of Detroit to operate as a museum. The remaining parts of the installation were ceded by the army to the city through 1976. In 2006, operation of the fort was given to the Detroit Recreation Department.

Shortly after the death of The Detroit News style columnist Charlotte "Tavy" Stone in 1985, the museum established the Tavy Stone Fashion Library. The library and costume gallery consolidate the museum's holdings on historical costumes and design in space on the second floor.