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Local Topography
Rivers, creeks, ditches
Six natural creeks once flowed through present day Dearborn and Dearborn
Heights. Of these, only two remain: the three branches of the Rouge River and
the Ecorse Creek.
Long covered over by civilization were what eventually became known as Dearborn
Ditch in southwest Dearborn; Campbell Ditch; Baby (originally spelled Baubee)
Creek; and Roulo (originally spelled Rouleau) Creek, which still has a remnant
left in Cookburn Ditch. This ditch runs behind Fairlane North and the Super
Kmart.
By the first years of the 20th century, a series of ditches stretched across the
landscape, providing drainage of swampy areas that once covered part of the
land.
A key characteristic of these ditches is that most started nowhere and ended
nowhere, except sometimes at the end of a farmer’s property. Many of the names
on these ditches are representative of farm families in the area.
Ditches within the boundaries of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights were Erin Graham
Ditch, Tutle No. 2 Ditch, Maxwell Ditch, Daly Ditch, Bayhan Ditch, Pardee Ditch,
Akins Ditch, Moore Ditch, Cookburn Ditch, Ten Eyck Ditch, Esper Ditch, Miller
Ditch, McLee Ditch, Burbank Ditch and McDonald Ditch (a later name of Baby
Creek).
ROUGE RIVER: When French trapper Robert Cavalier LaSalle came upon the river in
1670, he named it St. Agnes River, because the day he found it was Jan. 21,
which was St. Agnes Day. The French farmers, traders and trappers in the area
preferred the name Red (“Rouge” in French) River to St. Agnes, so the name was
changed.
ECORSE CREEK: Ecorse Creek was called Reed Creek in 1834, after the Reed family,
which settled near it. The family returned to New York after a year here. The Windot Indians settled along the creek in the 1700s.
The creek on either side of Dearborn Heights is classified as a river. Residents
managed to get the waterway through the city (then Dearborn Township) legally
designated a creek to allow housing to be built closer to the banks of the
stream.
BABY CREEK: The significance of this former waterway is its route makes up
Dearborn’s southeast border with Detroit. The creek wound through Patton Park,
Woodmere Cemetery to points northward.
Islands
Dearborn has two islands of note: Fordson Island and Suwanee Island, both
man-made.
FORDSON ISLAND: Fordson Island is a small islet in the middle of the Rouge River
in the southeastern part of Dearborn. The 8.4-acre island was created in 1922
when federal engineers, at the request of Ford Motor Co., straightened and
deepened a section of the Rouge River south of the Rouge Plant.
The river originally was too shallow and wound too much to properly accommodate
the Eagle Chaser boats from World War I that the Ford Motor Co. wanted the Rouge
Plant to utilize.
Federal engineers found it more efficient to cut directly across the land rather
than deepen the existing river. Fordson Island was born upon completion of the
$10 million channel.
Access to the island was possible by boat and by a plank bridge from southwest
Detroit. Today, the only land access remains the small one-lane bridge.
After the channel was completed in 1922, several people bought the lots on the
island to put up riverfront homes.
In 1970, six residents still called the island home. Through the city’s
Operation Eyesore, the remaining five dwellings were removed in 1989. With this
went the last residents.
The island today is home to a Marathon Oil facility and a second private
company.
SUWANEE ISLAND: This small island inside Greenfield Village was created when the Suwanee Lagoon was made to accommodate the Suwanee riverboat at the village.
Lakes/Ponds
Only one lake or pond in Dearborn is natural – Hidden Lake on the Henry Ford
Estate-Fair Lane grounds. All of the other ponds are manmade.
ACKLEY COVERED BRIDGE POND: This small pond is under the Ackley Covered Bridge
in Greenfield Village.
FORD COMMUNITY & PERFORMING ARTS CENTER POND:
A small pond was built on the
Michigan Avenue side of the building as part of the Ford Community & Performing
Arts Center.
FORD TWIN PONDS: The ponds, on the northeast corner of Oakwood and Beech, were
created before the turn of the century when clay for brick-making was extracted.
Water filled the resulting holes. creating what were called the Ford Twin Ponds.
Only the southern pond remains today. Ford Motor Co. filled in the northern pond
in 1979 and 1980 to create a parking lot.
HIDDEN LAKE: This is the only natural pond in Dearborn. It is near the Rouge
River on the Henry Ford Estate.
PARKLANE TOWERS TWIN PONDS: These ponds were created when the Parklane Towers
were built 1971-74.
SUWANEE LAGOON: This body of water is in the northeastern part of Greenfield
Village. It was created with water from the Rouge River for the purpose of the Suwanee boat at the Village. The island in the middle is called Suwanee Island.
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