Walking Tour of Corktown
September 27th
The Detroit Historical Society's "Behind the Scenes" series, sponsored by the DTE Energy Foundation, continues with a "back by popular demand" walking tour of the city's oldest surviving neighborhood, Corktown, on Saturday, September 27 at 11 a.m.
The Corktown Historic District has been home to the people who built and worked in Detroit's factories during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Established in the 1830s, Corktown was settled largely by Irish immigrants escaping to the potato famine. By the early 1900s, the booming auto industry attracted floods of Maltese and Latino immigrants seeking jobs, and many of them settled in Corktown.
The buildings in this neighborhood of 300 homes have Italianate, Gothic, Queen Anne, and neo-Georgian features. This diversity of architectural styles is representative of working class housing from the late 1840s to the early 1900s and is an example of development in the 19th century.
The cost for the tour is $20 for Detroit Historical Society members and $30 for guests, and lunch at Mudgies Deli on Porter Street is included. Telephone reservations can be accepted with a Visa or MasterCard Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are not sold the day of the tour. Those who register receive directions to the tour location, a map, and additional information in the mail one to two weeks prior to the tour.
For more information or to reserve your spot for the Detroit Historical Society's Behind the Scenes tours or other 2008 events, call (313) 833-1801, or visit www.detroithistorical.org/thingstodo.
