Michigan Avenue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michigan Avenue is one of the major pre-interstate roads of the state of Michigan. It follows the former course old US 12 through the state, which was east from Downtown Detroit to Battle Creek. It was replaced by I-94 in 1962 as a principal artery, and the state of Michigan re-routed the US 12 designation to the former route of US 112. The street ends (or rather, loses its Michigan Avenue designation) at the Kalamazoo/Calhoun county line.
In Detroit, Michigan Avenue is one of five major avenues (along with Woodward, Grand River, Gratiot and Fort St.) planned by judge Augustus Woodward in 1805 that extend from downtown Detroit in differing directions. Like the other major avenues, the road extends well beyond the city of Detroit, and historically served as a principal axis of expansion for development beyond Detroit. and as the main street of many small towns along its route.
In most communities, the road is still there and is named either Michigan Avenue or Old US 12. A major break in old US 12 is in the middle of Michigan half way between the village of Parma and the city of Albion. It is at this point that I-94 cuts south to some degree and bisects the old highway, forcing a motorist to navigate north on smaller roads.
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Tiger Stadium, the home of the Detroit Tigers from 1895-2000, was colloquially named "The Corner", referring to its location on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Street in Detroit.
