Grand River Avenue, or Michigan US-16 as it was ultimately designated, is one of Michigan's true "Blue Highways"--an original two-lane, blacktop road still serving as a direct path through roadside America. Originally a Native American trail, this ancient path has been a westbound route from the Straits of Detroit to the eastern shores of Lake Michigan for more than 1,000 years. Over time, it has served as a footpath, horse trail, wagon rut, stagecoach route, plank road, and ultimately a two-lane highway that gave some of America's earliest motorists their first taste of long-distance...

With origins dating back to the end of the last ice age, the road known as Michigan Avenue was most familiar to early settlers as the "Old Sauk Trail." Old Chicago Road: US-12 from Detroit to Chicago traces one of America's oldest and most famous routes--from its eastern origin at the very center of Detroit to its western terminus on the north side of Chicago. Vintage views, many of which have never before been published, explore the cities, towns, and villages along its path. While it has been known by many names throughout its history, the road continues to weave a unique American story in...

Detroit has always been at the forefront of American popular music development, and the ragtime years and jazz age are no exception. The city's long history of diversity has served the region well, providing a fertile environment for creating and nurturing some of America's most distinctly indigenous music. With a focus on the people and places that made Detroit a major contributor to America's rich musical heritage, Detroit: Ragtime and the Jazz Age provides a unique photo journal of a period stretching from the Civil War to the diminishing years of the big bands in the early 1940s.