Current Exhibitions

The Detroit Historical Museum’s most beloved signature exhibit, located on the lower level, is undoubtedly the Streets of Old Detroit. 

Step into Detroit’s past and experience the city’s dramatic transformation from rural frontier town to industrial giant in three time periods: the 1840s, 1870s and 1900s.

Imagine hearing the unmistakable sound of a baseball meeting the full force of Hall of Famer Al Kaline’s bat at Tiger Stadium. Imagine feeling the thrill as the solid, brass-colored elevator doors slowly opening onto the 12th floor of downtown Hudson’s, revealing aisle upon aisle of your favorite toys. Imagine working on the assembly line at Ford Motor Company when the first Model T rolled off it and, shortly thereafter, drove onto Woodward.

The America’s Motor City exhibition tells the fascinating stories of both how cars built metro Detroit and how metro Detroit built cars, as well as why Detroit became the Motor City.

The exhibit incorporates the museum’s popular Automotive Showplace exhibit at its entrance, where cars from our collection are featured.

It took Louis Meier, Sr. twelve years to build his clock.  Its hand-carved mahogany base, detailed glass clock face and intricate mechanisms made it a Detroit marvel when it debuted in his jewelry store at East Grand Boulevard and Gratiot Avenue in 1904.

A crowd favorite for years, The Glancy Trains are from the collection of Alfred R. Glancy Jr. (1908–1973), real estate financier and former-owner of the Empire State Building in New York City. During the 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Glancy enjoyed hosting “train parties” for friends, neighbors, schoolchildren and scout groups each holiday season at his home in Grosse Pointe Shores.

Detroit’s growth and development into one of the nation’s leading metropolitan regions is undeniably linked to the river that shares its name. The Dossin Great Lakes Museum’s core exhibition Built by the River highways that Detroiters have long used the river and lakes around us to build our industries, engage our neighbors, and pursue our recreational passions. 

Detroit was a pivotal part of the Underground Railroad, an informal network of safe houses and people willing to help runaway enslaved people. They adapted the language of the railroads to keep it secret.

In 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt urged the United States to become the “arsenal of democracy,” arming democratic nations against the looming totalitarian threats of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. It took ingenuity and perseverance under difficult circumstances, but Detroit answered the call — producing 30 percent of the war material generated in the United States before the end of the war in 1945.