Detroit River Skeleton Map to Illustrate Report and Estimate for 21 Ft. Channel

Improving navigation along the Detroit River in the early 20th century.

This interesting folding map presents three proposals for a 21 ft. shipping channel to navigate the Detroit River into Lake Erie. Plan A, nearly entirely in Canadian waters, incorporates existing channels then in operation. Plan B, a conveniently straight path, is mostly in American waters. Plan C, a circuitous route around Gross Isle, is entirely within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. The plan is accompanied by four pages of text, including a written report by G.J. Lydecker of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Published by the Government Printing Office in 1901 as part of a Congressional reference volume. The River and Harbor Act of 1902 would ultimately select a modified version of Plan A (per Lydecker’s recommendation), resulting in the eventual completion of the Amherstburg channel.