Detroit Historical Museum
Detroit Historical Museum
5401 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48202
313-833-1805
5401 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48202
313-833-1805
AT A
GLANCE: Detroit Historical Museum
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Parking
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On-street
parking. You may have to circle until
you find an empty spot.
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Amount of time needed
to peruse exhibits:
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90 - 120 minutes
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Amount of time needed
for gift shop
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20 - 30 minutes
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Dress code
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Dress respectfully if
you are lunching at a non-fast food restaurant.
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Be sure to…..
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Allot 20 minutes to
marvel at the Glancy Trains located on the lower level.
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Nearby/other
establishments to visit
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The Detroit Historical
Museum is located in Detroit’s Museum District. The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is
across the street, on the other side of Woodward. The Detroit Film Theatre is located inside
of the DIA. The Michigan Science
Center and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History are
located one block east of the DIA.
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Walkability, general
downtown area / amount of traffic
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This area is walkable
if you are going museum-to-museum.
Otherwise, take your car.
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Safety, in terms of
type and number of crimes committed in general area
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Detroit has a bad
reputation of rampant crime. Some of
it is true, some is not. Travel in
packs and be aware of your surroundings
Stow your valuables out of site and lock your car.
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We
visit a Detroit museum this week, by lucky coincidence. We are enjoying a Michigan autumn while
Category 4 Hurricane Mathew ravishes our adopted town of Melbourne,
Florida. Before we begin, positive
thoughts and prayers for our Florida neighbors.
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| The Detroit Historical Museum |
If the parking gods are smiling on you, free
on-street parking is available on W. Kirby St., across the street from the
entrance to the Detroit Historical Museum. I like to approach this museum by
starting with the 19th century streets of Detroit and the Gancy Trains,
so enter the Museum and go to the lower level.
The paving materials of the road changes as you go back in time. Storefronts line the street, and you get a
feel for what business was like in those days.
Be sure to watch your step on the cobblestone roads, because they could
easily mess with your ankles.
The first level, the one with the museum entrance,
has fascinating information on Detroit’s auto assembly plant. Henry Ford and the assembly line played a
major role in shaping our economy. I
think that the exhibit that shows an assembly line “body drop” would be more
exciting if the lower chassis kept moving while the body was being
dropped. The other exhibit on the first
level highlights the culture of Detroit through entertainment, politics,
sports, and recreation. It’s interesting
to compare the time periods to see the shifts in the way we lived. For those that wonder how Detroit became a
broken city of the past two decades, clued can be found in this exhibit. Hint:
it was a plethora of smaller things, as opposed to a major event that
crippled the City.
The Kid Rock Music Lab is new, since the last time I
visited the Museum. This area showcases
Detroit’s contribution to the music scene with features on Iggy Pop, Bob Seger,
Enimem, and MC5. As an aside, Kid Rock
owns the “Made in Detroit” clothing.
Support his work and pick up a few t-shirts in the gift shop.
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| The Detroit Historical Museum's Gift Shop |
Speaking of gift shops, the Detroit Historical
Museum ranks in my Top 10 of doing what a gift shop should do: complementing the Museum’s exhibits. Walk into the gift shop and go left. The Vernor’s (ginger ale) display offers mugs
and drinking glasses. I chuckled at the
one that read “It’s not soda, it’s pop.
An inclusive collection of Detroit-themed books is on this side of the
gift shop, against the back wall. Books
are a weakness of mine, and it was with great difficulty that I left the book
display. Still want something to read
that’s informative and quick? Turn
around and head toward the front of the shop for the shorter paperbacks on specific
topics and places unique to Detroit. You
can order these online if you decide later that you should have bought
one. The publisher, Arcadia Publishing, has
a website: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Search?searchtext=detroit&searchmode=anyword&searchoption=allbooks.
Postcards depicting
Detroit’s fashion designers are to your right, and correspond effortlessly with
the exhibit of the same name on the upper level. Get a jump on your holiday shopping by
picking up some of those generic gifts for that “just-in-case” occasion that come
in handy when you have an unexpected guest at your home. Coffee mugs, Pewabic tiles, and Detroit
Tigers shot glasses are all there for you, and you can most likely find a gift
for your child’s teacher. Maybe skip the
shot glasses, but then again….
You will find the aforementioned “Made in Detroit”
t-shirts with several different patterns, so you
can buy one as a gift for
someone and a different one for yourself.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but I have an unspoken rule
regarding shopping at gift shops: if I purchase
an item as I gift, I must
purchase something for myself. Strangely
though, it doesn’t work in the the opposite way. The online gift shop is a bit tricky to find,
and it offers limited merchandise. If
you see something you like while in the actual gift shop, buy it. https://detroithistorical.org/shop/museum-merchandise.
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| Don't forget the doggies! |
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| Children's toys |
The Museum’s gift shop
has the right amount of items geared toward children. They have smaller items that children can
purchase for themselves (pencils, wooden coins, whistles, plastic cups) and
they have items that you would purchase for your grand/child (stuffed animals,
coin purses, tote bags, frontier coon-skin hats).
If you are from the
Detroit-area, the Detroit Historical Museum and its gift shop will most likely
lift your spirits and give you the warm fuzzies when you appreciate how cool
and unique Detroit is. If you are an
out-of-town visitor, this tip will give you an insider’s look as to what
Detroit is all about. Forget the
doomsday newspaper headlines and admire the grit and determination of Detroit’s
people.
You have a few choices upon leaving the Detroit
Historical Museum:
- · Get lunch, or
- · Shop some more elsewhere, and grab a later lunch
If you choose the former, Circa 1890 Saloon is
around the block, and within walkable distance.
As you leave the museum, go to your right. Make another right at the corner, and Circa
1890 Saloon is on the right hand side of the street. The food here is the typical bar food of
burgers and fries, and the clientele is always interesting. Wayne State University is located across the
street (Cass Ave.), with its bookstore on Warren Rd, just west of Woodward. You can walk here, too, because it’s only a
few blocks away.
If you’d like something nicer than a burger and
fries, 5057 Vitale has Italian cuisine.
Again, it’s within walking distance, being only a block south of the
Museum on Woodward. I used to eat here
when it was called Maccabees, and it seemed like a typical bar for Millennials. Another nice place is Union Street, located
south on Woodward and it’s best to drive the several blocks to get there. Union Street is a laid back classy place with
a wonderful menu.
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| The Rust Belt Market |
Head north on Woodward, and in 15 minutes experience
another great shopping opportunity: the
Rust Belt Market (http://www.rustbeltmarket.com/),
which is on the corner of Woodward / Nine Mile in Ferndale. Parking is behind the building. You’ll find a greater selection of
Detroit-themed clothes, jewelry, coffee mugs, artworks, and the likes. Plan to spend 45-60 minutes here, because
there is so much merchandise to look at.
If you bypassed an earlier lunch for more shopping,
you must be
hungry by now. When you’re
ready, the restaurants of Ferndale await you.
Leave your car parked, because Ferndale is a walkable city. You won’t have to walk more than a few blocks
either way to find a place to eat. Rosie
O’Grady’s (http://rosieogradysirishpub.com/ferndale/)
is a nice sports bar west of the Market on Nine Mile. Their Mac & Cheese is incredible. Howe’s Bayou (http://howesbayouferndale.net/) is north of the Rust Belt Market on Woodward, and
has Cajun dishes with a unique twist. The
Fly Trap is a block north of Howes Bayou, and is a fun and quirky place. True story:
I saw Anthony Bourdain (celebrity chef) sitting at the counter in the
Fly
Trap. I didn’t know who he was at
the time so I kept staring at him, because he looked familiar.
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| Rosie O'Grady's |
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| Howes Bayou |
Caution: The
Woodward Dream Cruise (Woodwarddreamcruise.com) is held on the 3rd
Saturday of August, and is the largest one-day car-related event in the world. Woodward area restaurants will have a long waiting list. Plan your travels accordingly if you wish to avoid this.
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