Grand River Avenue

Book excerpt: Grand River Avenue details the history of this historical Michigan roadway, which has served as a footpath, wagon rut, and ultimately a two-lane highway. Grand River Avenue, or Michigan US-16 as it was ultimately designated, is one of Michigan's true Blue Highways--an original two-lane, blacktop road still serving as a direct path through roadside America. Originally a Native American trail, this ancient path has been a westbound route from the Straits of Detroit to the eastern shores of Lake Michigan for more than 1,000 years. Over time, it has served as a footpath, horse trail, wagon rut, stagecoach route, plank road, and ultimately a two-lane highway that gave some of America's earliest motorists their first taste of long-distance automobile travel.