Corktown is the oldest surviving neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, although the city of Detroit is twice as old. The current boundaries of the current district include Michigan Avenue to the north, the Lodge Freeway to the east, Bagley and Porter streets to the south, and Rosa Parks/12 Street to the west. The buildings of the Corktown Historic District are largely private residences, although some Michigan Avenue commercial buildings are open to...
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Corktown is the oldest surviving neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, although the city of Detroit is twice as old. The current boundaries of the current district include Michigan Avenue to the north, the Lodge Freeway to the east, Bagley and Porter streets to the south, and Rosa Parks/12 Street to the west. The buildings of the Corktown Historic District are largely private residences, although some Michigan Avenue commercial buildings are open to the public. The neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The roots of Corktown lie in the Great Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. The Irish immigrated to the United States in droves, and by the middle of the 19th century, they were the largest ethnic group settling in Detroit. Many of these newcomers settled on the west side of the city; they were primarily from County Cork, and thus the neighborhood came to be known as Corktown. By the early 1850's, half of the population of the 8th Ward (which contained...
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