Atkinson Avenue Historic District

Atkinson Avenue is an east/west street located in the geographic heart of the city of Detroit, Michigan. Atkinson Avenue was named in honor of William Francis Atkinson. Held prisoner by the Confederacy, Atkinson courageously escaped and rose to the rank of captain before leaving the service in 1886. Captain Atkinson had a commendable war record. Long after the Civil War, he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In its entirety, Atkinson Avenue begins at Woodward Avenue and travels westerly to Linwood Avenue, where Atkinson Avenue abruptly stops. Atkinson Avenue resumes at Savery Avenue and continues traveling westerly to its final terminus at McQuade Avenue, just west of Dexter Boulevard. For a time, during the 1890s, that portion of...