The Era of Dams, Electrification, and Parks: 1900-1940

This time period marks an important turn in our story. In the early 20th century, a transformation of the riverfront landscape occurred because the introduction of electricity provided the opportunity for new uses of the river and its banks. First, the generation of electricity was a clean process, so building an electric power station along the river did not preclude other uses. Detroit Edison bought the land along the river, and built a series of dams and water holding ponds. Second, industry was now powered by electricity, and no longer needed to be located along the river. Thus the riverfront was available for other uses in an environmentally safe atmosphere.

The citizens of Ann Arbor decided to replace the 19th century landscape of mills with a string of parks along the Huron River waterfront. Many parks were connected along the riverfront, and became part of the Huron River Greenway. But Broadway Park was isolated, and consequently suffered from lack of investment and patronage.

• Dams and Electrification
• Parks
• The Failure of Broadway Park