All eventsConcerts, festivals and markets, tonight and this weekend
Annual festivalsJazz, techno, cars and parades: Michigan’s year, festival by festival
Holidays & seasonsPumpkin season, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, the Fourth
Sports: games & scoresLions, Red Wings, Pistons, Tigers: live scores and trophies
ItinerariesReady-made day plans, stop by stop
Places to exploreMuseums, parks, neighborhoods and icons
Free museum daysFlip the calendar: when museums let you in for free
Metro Detroit mapWhat Metro Detroit is, and what every town is about
The Henry FordRosa Parks’ bus, Greenfield Village and the Ford Rouge Factory
RenCen: live trackerThe Renaissance Center’s past, present and future, up to the minute
Gordie Howe BridgeThe new bridge to Canada: live waits, tolls, and yes, you can walk it
ToursBy boat, by bike or on foot, with a local guide
Escape roomsOne hour, one lock and your crew
Plan a meetingVenues, hotels and what’s on in town on your dates
Detroit A–ZFrom limos to chambers of commerce: every business and service in one place
ShoppingDetroit-made brands, markets and shopping streets
Detroit with kidsZoo, science center and rainy-day ideas
Motor City cultureFactories, museums and car events
Wellness & rechargeA riverside sauna, spas, yoga and running trails
My tripYour flights, your events, day by day, with an itemized budget in dollars and your own currency
Plan your tripWhen to come, how to get here, where to sleep: all in one place
Weather & seasonsWhat it’s like right now and month by month
Coming from abroad?Entry, money, phones, power, Canada: what you need to know
TransitBuses, trains and ferries with live departures
Driving in MichiganLicenses, rental cars, the rules and the yellow school bus
Lanes and left exitsKeep right? Here people pass on the right and exit on the left
Road work and potholesOrange barrels, detours, 45 mph: driving Michigan’s work zones
Mile roads: mile zero and 8 MileWhere the city counts from, and which Mile you’re standing on
People MoverThe free elevated loop above downtown
QLINE streetcarThe free streetcar on Woodward Avenue
DTW airportRed or blue terminal? We’ll show you.Your license in MichiganRental carsSpeed limitsMiles, gallons, MPGThe Michigan left and the rulesSchool busesTraffic lights, a Detroit inventionPulled over by policeDrinking and drivingWinter drivingWildlife on the roadGas and parking
DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
80 people · 2/2 page
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Politics · 1848–1909
William C. Mayburylawyer, congressman, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born lawyer and congressman who was mayor from 1897 to 1904, sealed the Detroit Century Box time capsule and invested in Henry Ford's first car company; his statue stands in Grand Circus Park.
Politics · 1769–1846Solomon Sibleylawyer, first mayor of Detroit, territorial judgePioneer lawyer who arrived in 1797, wrote Detroit's first city charter and in 1806 became its first mayor, later serving as territorial delegate and chief justice.
Politics · 1884–1957Charles Bowleslawyer, judge, mayor of DetroitKlan-backed candidate who nearly won the 1924 mayoral race as a write-in, later became mayor in 1930 and was recalled within six months amid charges of tolerating crime.
Law · 1922–2019Damon Keithfederal judge, civil rights lawyerDetroit-born federal judge whose rulings desegregated Pontiac schools, struck down warrantless wiretaps and declared that 'democracies die behind closed doors'; he served on the bench for over 50 years.
Law · 1955–2020Benny Napoleonpolice chief, lawyer, Wayne County sheriffDetroit-born minister's son who rose from patrolman to Detroit police chief (1998–2001), served as Wayne County sheriff (2009–2020) and ran for mayor in 2013.
Law · 1774–1827Augustus B. Woodwardfirst chief justice of Michigan Territory, city plannerFirst chief justice of Michigan Territory who drew up Detroit's radial street plan after the fire of 1805; Woodward Avenue bears his name.
City history · 1853–1932Clarence M. Burtonlawyer, businessman, historian and collectorDetroit title lawyer and historian whose private archive became the Burton Historical Collection, the backbone of Detroit history research.
Law · 1924–2022Avern Cohnlawyer, federal judgeDetroit-born lawyer and civic leader who chaired the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners and served as a federal judge in Detroit for more than four decades (1979–2022).
Politics · 1900–1950Edward Jeffrieslawyer, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born lawyer and son of a crusading judge who was mayor through World War II (1940–1948), including the deadly 1943 race riot; the Jeffries Freeway honors him.
Politics · 1899–1970Thaddeus M. Machrowiczlawyer, judge, congressmanPolish-born lawyer who rose from Hamtramck city attorney and judge to represent the Detroit area in Congress for a decade, then served as a federal judge in Detroit.
Law · 1920–1987Wade H. McCreejudge, U.S. solicitor general, law professorHarvard-trained lawyer who made his career in Detroit, becoming the first Black judge on the Wayne County Circuit Court and the Sixth Circuit, then U.S. solicitor general.
Politics · 1897–1987Louis Mirianilawyer, city council president, mayor of DetroitLegal aid lawyer and council president who succeeded Albert Cobo in 1957, completed Cobo Hall and the Civic Center, and remains Detroit's most recent Republican mayor.L. Brooks Pattersonlawyer, prosecutor, Oakland County executiveDetroit-born, U of D Jesuit-educated Republican who ran affluent Oakland County for 27 years (1992–2019), famous for its AAA bond rating and for provocative remarks about Detroit.
Law · born 1951Gerald Rosentrial lawyer, federal judge, bankruptcy mediatorDetroit trial lawyer and chief federal judge who, as chief mediator in the city's bankruptcy, assembled the 'grand bargain' that saved the Detroit Institute of Arts collection and softened pension cuts.
Politics · 1914–1972Cora Brownsocial worker, policewoman, lawyer, state senatorCass Tech graduate, Detroit social worker and policewoman who in 1952 became the first African American woman elected to any state senate in the United States.
Politics · 1773–1813Elijah Brushlawyer, mayor of Detroit, territorial treasurerEarly Detroit lawyer and second mayor (1806) whose ribbon farm beside the town became Brush Park; Brush Street carries his family name.
Politics · 1922–1993
Zolton Ferencylawyer, political activist, professorDetroit-born son of a Hungarian-American family who chaired the Michigan Democratic Party, ran for governor in 1966 and later founded the left-wing Human Rights Party.
Politics · born 1952Robert Ficanolawyer, Wayne County sheriff, county executiveDetroit-born lawyer who served twenty years as Wayne County sheriff (1983–2003) and twelve as county executive (2003–2015), a tenure ending amid scandals and the unfinished Gratiot jail project.Lawrence Josephpoet, essayist, lawyer, law professorDetroit-born Lebanese-Syrian American poet and law professor whose poems about work, violence, law and money often return to the Detroit of his youth.
Law · 1897–1970Theodore Levinimmigration lawyer, federal judgeDetroit immigration lawyer and Jewish community leader who served as a federal judge (1946–1970) and whose name is on Detroit's federal courthouse; uncle of Carl and Sander Levin.
Law · 1858–1933Horace Rackhamlawyer, original Ford Motor Company shareholder, philanthropistDetroit lawyer who drew up Ford Motor Company's incorporation papers, bought 50 shares against his banker's advice, and gave his fortune to the zoo, a golf course and education.
Politics · 1842–1904William G. Thompsonlawyer, Union officer, mayor of Detroit, baseball club founderCivil War veteran and lawyer who was mayor of Detroit from 1880 to 1883 and founded the Detroit Wolverines, the city's first major-league baseball team, in 1881.
Politics · 1810–1873Asher B. Bateslawyer, mayor of Detroit, Hawaiian royal officialDetroit lawyer who finished Augustus Porter's mayoral term in 1839 and later became a privy councillor and legal adviser to King Kamehameha III of Hawaii.
Law · born 1956James Craigpolice chief, politicianDetroit-born Cass Tech graduate who spent 28 years in the LAPD, then led the Detroit Police Department after bankruptcy (2013–2021) before a series of Republican campaigns.
Law · born 1943Isaiah McKinnonpolice officer, police chief, deputy mayor, professorOne of Detroit's first Black police officers, nearly killed by fellow officers during the 1967 uprising, who rose to chief of police (1993–1998) and later served as deputy mayor.Kevyn Orrbankruptcy lawyer, Detroit emergency managerBankruptcy lawyer appointed by Governor Rick Snyder as Detroit's emergency manager, who took the city into the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2013 and out of it in December 2014.
Law · 1922–1994Otis M. Smithlawyer, Michigan Supreme Court justice, GM general counselFirst African American justice of the Michigan Supreme Court (1961–1966), who then rose to vice president and general counsel of General Motors at its Detroit headquarters.
Law · 1842–1908D. Augustus Strakerlawyer, jurist, civil rights advocateBarbados-born lawyer who became the first Black attorney to argue before the Michigan Supreme Court and won a landmark 1890 case against restaurant segregation.Kym Worthyprosecutor, judgeWayne County prosecutor since 2004, the first Black woman county prosecutor in Michigan, who charged Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in 2008 and led the testing of 11,000 abandoned Detroit rape kits.
Civil rights & activism · 1938–1989Kenneth Cockrel Sr.radical lawyer, community organizer, city councilmanMarxist lawyer and co-founder of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers who won landmark courtroom battles for poor Detroiters and sat on the City Council (1978–1982).
Politics · 1813–1855James A. Van Dykelawyer, fire chief, mayor of DetroitEloquent Whig lawyer and fire-department president who was Detroit's 21st mayor (1847) and later the Michigan Central Railroad's attorney.John Nicholspolice commissioner, sheriffSon of Detroit's southwest-side Hungarian community who rose to Detroit police commissioner and narrowly lost the 1973 mayoral race to Coleman Young.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗
