PANORAMA! Gigantic paintings in Detroit, Part 1

Starting around 1850, Detroiters could pop into Old City Hall or the Firemen’s Hall and, for 25 cents or so, see the latest “greatest painting ever made” — sweeping views of overland route to California, the funeral of Napoleon, Bible scenes, the life of George Washington.

• • •

The Pontiac Tree

A stately, romantic old oak, the “monarch of the forest,” once marked the site of the Battle of Bloody Run.

• • •