Poletown East was first mentioned in the Detroit Free Press in 2012. Though the neighborhood was unnamed for decades, it was known as a Polish neighborhood starting in the early 1900s. After mass waves of migration from Poland, the neighborhood supported multiple churches, schools, and grocery stores. Chene Street was one of the most dense commercial corridors in America. The Chene-Ferry Market was a popular spot for Polish favorites, and multiple automotive factories pumped out American automobiles.

By the 1950s, the seeds of Detroit’s deindustrialization were already taking root, and the neighborhood began to change. Polish families moved to the suburbs, and a new wave of immigrants took their place, this time from other Eastern European countries and the Middle East. Though the neighborhood was different by the 1970s, the Chene Street area saw investment, and there was hope in the neighborhood.

In 1985, GM’s new Hamtramck Assembly plant opened. It decimated Poletown, the neighborhood northwest of Poletown East, making it harder to get to the neighborhood from Hamtramck, which hurt local businesses. The land was acquired through eminent domain, which the Michigan Supreme Court upheld, even though it took land from private citizens and gave it to a corporation, not the government. This decision was reversed in 2004, but the damage was done.

Detroit built a new incinerator complex to the southwest, opening in 1989. This caused asthma and cancer concerns for the neighborhood and communities within a short distance of the plant.

Today, the neighborhood better resembles how it did in the 1890s than how it looked at its peak. That said, the area has multiple urban farms, churches, and new residents.

At the bottom of this page, every location I’ve documented in Poletown East is plotted on a map to better understand the neighborhood.