Crossings | The Detroit River

I think that if many people were asked “Is Detroit a Great Lakes city?” their response would be a confident “Yes!”. But if then asked, “What Great Lake is it on?”, confidence in their answer might wane. In fact, if their familiarity with the region or mental geography is limited, they may become stumped. Because the answer is that Detroit is not on one of the Great Lakes. But it does sit on water that is part of the Great Lakes system (remember – the largest freshwater system on earth!).

We’re moving on today from Lake Huron-Lake Michigan (remember – technically one body of water!), to Lake Erie. But we’re making a stop along the way in Detroit on the banks of the Detroit River, a 28 mile straight ushering water south and west to the mouth of Lake Erie. The water is flowing at origin from Lake Huron, down the St. Clair River and into Lake St. Clair and then into the Detroit River.

The Detroit River is a significant stretch of international border between the United States and Canada. There are currently two automobile crossings, the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, managed by border agencies on both sides. More than 40,000 people cross the border each day.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Detroit River was one of the busiest commercial waterways on earth with the rise of the auto industry in Detroit. In 1907 the river moved 67 million tons of shipping commerce out to destinations around the world. By comparison, New York City moved about 20 million tons that year. 

But decades before automobiles were built and started crossing the Detroit River, it was a different crossing. It was a  final stop for many routes on the Underground Railroad. Code name “Midnight”, Detroit was the most active entry point along the US-Canada border for enslaved people escaping to freedom.

There were several reasons for this:

1. Slavery was outlawed in Michigan, and by the 1830s Detroit had developed an established Black population, some of whom courageously accepted the profound risks of assisting enslaved people;
2. By 1833 Canada had declared that enslaved people could not be extradited to be returned to their owners and granted legal immigration status to Blacks, making it the closest thing possible to freedom; 
3. The river is relatively narrow and shallow, making it navigable by even smaller boats, although winter months would have been a perilous trip.

Second Baptist Church of Detroit and the First Baptist Church of Amherstburg on the Canadian side of the river coordinated many of the crossings. The basement of the Second Baptist Church was likely the last place in America that some enslaved people spent time before leaving for Canada. You can arrange for a tour of the church. Across the river, 30 minutes south of Windsor, is the Amherstburg Freedom Museum which consists of a church and a log cabin built by people who escaped slavery via the underground railroad.

The last steps to freedom for many people were actually a distance covered on the waters of the Great Lakes.