detroit historical society

I recently hosted a large corporate meeting at the museum. The staff, especially Dontez, was immensely helpful and accommodating. We utilized the new 125-seat auditorium for our meeting and then the large lunch room space for our lunch and awards ceremony. They were flexible and worked with our caterer great. Our catering team was able to set up food stations just outside the lunch room so our staff could look around and mingle. Dontez was there to meet our every request and answer every question. Can't say enough about him. I have received so many compliments from co-workers and our executive staff about the event and venue. As far as the museum, there are many interesting and interactive exhibits that truly demonstrate Detroit's important place in history. There's also a great gift shop with Detroit-themed and Detroit-made gifts.There is no charge for admission, so be sure to donate generously!

Took a group of adults on a Detroit tour. This was a part of it. Great place to show people that don't know what Detroit has to offer.

Really fun and interesting museum! We loved the old streets of Detroit, the undergound railroad exhibit, and the videos explaining what was going on in each era of Detroit and the exhibit about all the musicians that came out of Detroit. REALLY GREAT MUSEUM!

just a fun look at old Detroit. The lower level streets of Old Detroit is especially cool and fun for kids

We loved the setting of the museum. We had themed Detroit food stations and danced in the "Streets of Detroit" with all the little shops nearby.

I say surprising as we are not regular museum visitors but this was close to our base and we were walking the area and so went in and were very impressed. The exhibits just emphasised and brought to life our experiences in the city over the previous days. They cover the early settlement, slavery, economic growth and crash, musicians, sportsmen and much more, go see.

We found out about this on this site and decided to give it a go as we knew very little of Detroits history. The staff were very friendly and knowlegable. Here you can walk through a 19th century street, discover the how and why of Detroits development and a real highlight was the car assembly line, where you can watch a car being assembled.The only down sides were that there seemed to be a general ignoring of the how and why of Detroits down turn. Its understandable that they may not want to highlight the cities troubles, but it is a part of the cities history and to ignore it is to deny the experiences of its inhabitants. Also the "Underground Railroad" exhibits whilst informative, did come accross as desperately trying not to offend any one, so there appeared to be alot left unsaid rather than addressed.Having said that I still recommend that you visit

I visit lots of local historical museums in major cities. This one was not only FREE but well worth the few hours I spent there. The idea behind most of the museum is that the visitor should "experience" the actual living conditions of the displays instead of just looking at pictures and displays. The basement holds a walk through town where you can enter many of the stores to shop as it was in the earliest days. The factory assembly line actually has moving cars being assembled right before your eyes. The early 1900s war time, prohibition, and post WW II era let you fit into the living and social venues of the times. Even the underground slave railroad lets you see the shadows of participants and hear the noises and voices of those going to freedom.All in all, one of the best I've seen.

The story of Detroit, the origins, obviously the car industry, the racial tension and political corruption. It is all in this enjoyable and informative mid-town museum. A good introduction into the city. Entry is fee but there is a $10 parking fee. Detroit has a bad reputation but I enjoyed by visit to Motor city.

This is a pretty simple museum. I had more expectations from a history museum of a (once) a great city of Detroit.

They did a great job renovating this museum a few years back! Lots of great local history and interesting vignettes that are fun and well done. Love the trains!

If you are in the area you should definitely check this out. Three floors of Detroit history with some interactive content. Parking is around back and inexpensive. Admission by donation. Well maintained and a lot of interesting stuff.

This museum deserves more accolade's than it gets! They did a great job presenting a huge amount of information in an enjoyable manner. You do need several hours to see it all but it is really worth your time and it is free!

This museum tells you all about the history of Detroit from the days of the underground railroad, the boom days of the 20s through WW2 era, the city's fall into ruin an into its current resuscitation. All of that for free. If you have any interest in the historyof the city, it's a museum definiely worth checking out. It's in a great area of town as well, right across from the institute of art. The only thing I wish there was more of was a section on the architecture of the city, but they have a small gallery on some buildings

Yes, there's history of the auto industry here. There would have to be for a museum in the Motor City. There's good stuff here about that. But there's a lot more. There are good exhibits showing the early history and the evolution of Detroit from frontier fort to major manufacturing center. You can walk through the Streets of Old Detroit - you literally walk a Detroit city street, going through time - very cool. One of the highlights of the museum (and it appeared to be the highlight for everyone who entered this exhibit while I was there) is the Kid Rock Music Lab. The title of the exhibit is a bit of a misnomer. This is a combination mini-Motown museum and mini-Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. There are videos of famous Detroit music acts along with displays showing the evolution of music in Detroit. Yes, there is a Kid Rock exhibit, too. Kudos to Kid Rock and the museum for adding this to the museum. There is street parking but there's also a lot at the back of the museum. There's an intercom at the entrance of the lot where you'll be told to come inside to pay ($6). The museum, itself, is free! Go early so you can spend some alone time with your favorite exhibit. There were a couple of tours happening the day I was there, including some elementary-age children who were a bit distracting. Hopefully, they learned something while they were running around. The museum is large enough, however, that you can escape any unruly visitors and find something interesting. There's a nice gift shop with some cool Detroit swag.