In June 1805, Detroit burned to the ground, but most accounts skip over the critical three hours between the first spark around 10 a.m. and the moment when little remained but ash. Join Jeremy Dimick, Detroit Historical Society Director of Collections & Curatorial, as he explores the fire’s rapid destruction of a settlement of roughly 500 residents, many of whom spent the night in makeshift camps along the river and nearby fields. The devastation also opened the door to a new vision for Detroit, as Judge Augustus Woodward proposed a grand radial plan for rebuilding. But limited resources, land disputes, and residents’ urgency to rebuild quickly caused his ambitious design to largely fall apart, leaving only traces of Woodward’s plan in the city today.
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