Detroit turns 310

Dear Detroit: Happy birthday. And chin up.

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Settlers beware

Fake eviction notices in Detroit. From 1837.

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Detroit’s most annoying lawyer

A brief biography of Ebenezer Rogers, a.k.a. “Squirrel-Tooth,” a.k.a. “Old Famine,” who ate everything, leered at women and got in a lot of fights.

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The Spirit of Detroit

Five years ago today, on the first take-off-your-sweater-nice day in spring, in a college town on the stateline between Wisconsin and Illinois, I walked to a tattoo parlor, had this done, and then went out for a beer.

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Jean-Francois Hamtramck

It’s not the likeliest place for a hallowed memorial to a decorated officer of the Revolutionary War. But here he lies, along growly old Jos. Campau, across the street from an L.A. Insurance.

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Gambling? No.

On the Belle Isle Casino, where the author will be wed.

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Margaret Mather

A tragic Victorian stage actress rises from poverty in Detroit to live in celebrity, if not artistic splendor.

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Who was Silas Farmer? We found out.

Silas Farmer: upright Christian citizen, co-founder of Detroit’s YMCA, author of “History of Detroit and Michigan” and “The Drinker’s Dictionary.” All in our very first podcast

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Christmas with General Friend Palmer

Festive Christmas traditions from early Detroit, as related by General Friend Palmer. Pony races, mince pies and all-night noise-making.

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