Detroit's Cass Corridor (Images of America)

Welcome to the Cass Corridor, an area geographically bound by freeways and major thoroughfares, yet boundless in its rich history and influence. Since the French established the sleepy ribbon farms in the 1700s, the Cass Corridor has experienced a fascinating evolution. Home to affluent gentry in the Victorian era, the area became the hub for automotive parts suppliers, film distribution, and pharmaceuticals at the turn of the 20th century. The interwar period saw the area transition to a working-class neighborhood that descended into a slum. The Cass Corridor, however, redefined itself, Detroit, and the nation as a home to the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The corridor has long been a cradle of creativity that many renowned personalities called home, including Charles Lindbergh, Gilda Radner, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Marcus Belgrave, and others.