My first memory of Michigan Avenue was not the ribbon of concrete it is today. It was almost impassable during some seasons of the year. It was a dirt road as far as Lonyo Street in the west side of Detroit and I remember how the farmer's horse seemed to enjoy trotting along the hard surface when it reached the pavement.
Michigan Avenue had been a plank road on which a toll was collected. This road was opened through Dearborn in 1850. The plank road did not prove successful because the planks sank in places and repairs were too costly to make the project pay.
After a few years gravel was used to resurface the road and until 1910 this type of road existed through Dearborn. Then paving was started in the eastern part of town and by 1913 concrete had been extended to the western limits of the city. [Dearborn]
All other streets of the village were dirt with shallow ditches alongside to carry the water off. In west weather water often covered the roads and spread over into the adjoining property. In fact, we often skated between the corn stubbles where Sacred Heart church now stands. We had many open places for play in those early days.
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