Updates to Origins: Life Where the River Bends

After a brief summer closure, the Detroit Historical Museum’s Origins: Life Where the River Bends exhibition is back with new artifacts and interactive features, with even deeper storytelling about the early history of the region that would become Detroit.

Visited by thousands of school aged children annually, the exhibition was revised first with an eye toward physical accessibility. The early settler’s cabin was enlarged and its artifacts placed at a more comfortable eye level for young visitors. The cabin’s entrance was made ADA-accessible with the addition of a new ramp, and items were moved in the center of the gallery to create a wider walkway for guests.

New stories and artifacts

Exciting new artifacts from the Fur Trade Era and Detroit’s early years have also been added to bring the story of the city’s beginnings to life, including a section of stockade fence from Fort Lernoult/Fort Shelby that was donated by Comerica Bank in 2023. New interactive video and graphic panels share details about topics like the geologic formation of the Great Lakes, the Anishinaabe peoples of the region, Native women in the fur trade, Pontiac’s War, the War of 1812, the growth of Detroit’s municipal services, Michigan’s road to statehood, and more.