Explore local research routes across Detroit, Plymouth, Dearborn, Northville, Wyandotte and Downriver. Follow schools, workplaces, churches, streets and local government records.
The overview places Plymouth, Northville, Dearborn, Wyandotte and Flat Rock. D marks the Detroit area enlarged below. A starred marker groups multiple stops at one repository: 1* covers stops 1, 6 and 7; 2* covers 2 and 10–13; 4* covers 4 and 18. Use the linked key for each collection.
Open the full-size street map. On narrow screens, swipe across the map. Approximate repository locations, not entrances or walking routes.
Confirm access before visiting. A marker identifies the repository, not the place where a record was created. Appointments, retrieval rules and restrictions still apply. Online collections may include material held elsewhere.
Updated November 6, 2026. Reuther collection claims withdrawn following a correction from the library. Other entries retain their cited sources; no name-level search or repository visit is claimed.
First, separate Detroit from the county
Write down the municipality or township, date, street address and record creator. Use the locality recorded at the time, then check the custodian. A Wayne County collection may contain only Plymouth records or a limited sample of a court series.
Correction: Reuther Library holdings
November 6, 2026: We incorrectly described Jewish Family Service records as available at the Reuther Library. The library has confirmed that those records were deaccessioned in 2023. We have removed that research recommendation and withdrawn the other Reuther collection descriptions and older finding-aid links pending current-catalog verification. We apologize for the confusion.
Plymouth assessment rolls and county government papers
Follow a property between census years.
What the collection offers
The finding aid lists digital copies of Plymouth Township assessments for selected years from 1844 to 1873; originals are at Burton. It also identifies school and county tax rolls, including 1957 and selected 1970s volumes, and drain assessments for 1962 and 1967.
What to confirm
These are selected years, not continuous countywide coverage. The finding aid’s heading ends at 1972 but its inventory includes 1977. Use the item inventory and confirm the requested volume. “Digital only” does not establish public online access.
RESEARCH STOP 02
Walter P. Reuther Library: current catalog and access
Start with the library’s current discovery tools.
What the collection offers
Our earlier collection-specific descriptions and service instructions have been withdrawn pending verification against current holdings. Use the library’s current website to search its archival finding aids, digital collections and library catalog.
What to confirm
Correction, November 6, 2026: the library advised that our guide included outdated information and suppressed finding aids. A surviving older PDF is not proof of current custody or access.
RESEARCH STOP 03
Township officers, local courts and occupational registrations
Did an ancestor hold local office or practice a licensed occupation?
What the collection offers
The state guide lists Dearborn Township officers’ oaths and bonds for 1854 and 1857–1889 (RG 71-157); Van Buren Township justices’ docket, 1862–1882 (RG 2020-35); and nurse registrations, 1915–1966 (RG 85-38). Detroit assessor cards, circa 1920–2000, are listed as RG 2015-132.
What to confirm
County offices, townships and Detroit created different series. Confirm jurisdiction and restrictions. An index or a collection date is not evidence that a particular person appears.
RESEARCH STOP 04
Church records, yearbooks and neighborhood context
Which parish, school or neighborhood could connect the family?
What the collection offers
Burton provides a Roman Catholic church-records list, a school-yearbook list and a Wayne County death-record index, alongside manuscript, map and photograph research. Begin with these collection-specific tools rather than a surname-only search.
What to confirm
A listed church or school does not mean all years survive. Ask about copying and access to the exact item. Database subscriptions have their own onsite or library-card conditions.
RESEARCH STOP 05
Property deeds before and after 1960
Can an address or parcel lead to an earlier owner?
What the collection offers
The county’s online land-record search begins January 1, 1960. Earlier documents require the office or a search-by-mail route. A free name search returns a listing; viewing or printing documents is a separate step.
What to confirm
A deed concerns a transaction or interest in property. It does not by itself prove residence or a family relationship.
RESEARCH STOP 06
Plymouth village poorhouse and municipal employment files, RG 1
What the collection offers
RG 1, Entry 5, Folder 13 identifies village records concerning the county home, transient people, and poorhouse, 1876-1900. Nearby employment folders cover selected years from 1898 through 1918. These are concrete alternatives when a family disappears from familiar household records. Start with the relief folder and compare any names, dates, payments, or officials actually found against the employment material; the catalog does not promise that all these details appear.
What to confirm
This is a Plymouth municipal route, not a countywide poorhouse inmate register. The historical folder title uses stigmatizing language. A mention of relief or institutional contact does not establish a diagnosis or explain an entire household’s circumstances.
RESEARCH STOP 07
Plymouth Township justice dockets and poll books, RG 2
What the collection offers
Township of Plymouth Government Documents, RG 2, spans 1839-2013. Entry 4 lists justice dockets for 1919, 1922-1940, and 1954-1957. Entry 6 contains tally sheets and poll books for selected years: 1907, 1909, 1912-1915, and 1931. These give two specific ways to investigate an adult’s local presence between census dates. Record docket references exactly and compare names against a known address or associates before concluding that a common name belongs to your person.
What to confirm
Do not treat the collection’s overall span as continuous docket or election coverage. Township records are distinct from Plymouth city records. A poll-book entry needs interpretation of the actual volume headings and electoral context.
RESEARCH STOP 08
Detroit Recorder’s Court criminal calendars and case files
What the collection offers
The Wayne County Guide lists Recorder’s Court criminal case files circa 1858-1949 and calendars 1858-1949 in RG 2011-37. RG 2022-78 continues case files for 1949-1977 and includes a general index to criminal calendars, 1945-1973. This supplies an actionable court route for a Detroit incident rather than a generic instruction to search courthouse records.
What to confirm
A catalog date range does not prove that every case survives. Search the index first, then record the case number, charge, disposition, and identifying details from the file. Allegations and charges are not convictions. Keep identity matching and the legal outcome separate in research notes.
RESEARCH STOP 09
Sumpter Township electors and assessment rolls, RG 2019-67
What the collection offers
RG 2019-67 contains Sumpter Township assessment rolls, 1865-1932, and a register of electors, 1884-1888, according to the Archives of Michigan’s Wayne County Guide. Pair these two series when testing whether a proposed ancestor belonged to this township rather than another Wayne County community.
What to confirm
Elector and taxpayer lists describe different populations. Neither should be treated as a complete census of residents. A missing name alone does not prove absence or migration. Compare several years, retain exact property descriptions when present, and distinguish owner, assessed person, and household residence rather than assuming they are identical.
RESEARCH STOP 14
Dearborn newspapers by title and access format
What the collection offers
For a Dearborn family, search the town newspapers before treating Detroit coverage as exhaustive. The library lists online catalog access to the Dearborn Independent, 1905-1924; Dearborn Press, 1918-1922; and Dearborn Times Herald / Downriver Sunday Times, 1963-2019. Library-computer PDFs extend the Independent through 1963, Press through 1976, and Times Herald through 2022. Dearborn Guide, 1948-1976, and Press & Guide, 1976-2025, are also listed as library-computer PDFs.
What to confirm
Online, PDF, and microfilm date spans differ. A title's overall date range does not establish every issue survives. The library explicitly does not guarantee finding a requested obituary.
RESEARCH STOP 15
Northville Record, school yearbooks, and local-history index
What the collection offers
The library's online portal provides the Northville Record from 1869 through December 2023, a searchable index to more than 90 printed local sources, and Northville High School yearbooks from 1921-2012. The portal also lists middle-school yearbooks and oral-history interviews. These are useful together when an obituary is absent: a school entry or neighborhood report can supply a residence, relative, employer, or community connection to test against other records.
What to confirm
Read the separate missing-issues list before drawing a negative conclusion. It identifies whole missing years including 1881, 1883-1885, 1890-1891, 1900-1901, and 1930, plus missing or poor-quality individual issues and pages.
RESEARCH STOP 16
Wyandotte and Ford City death records plus Thon funeral microfilm
What the collection offers
Bacon's local-history holdings include Wyandotte death records, 1897-1998; Ford City death records, 1906-1922; and Thon Funeral Home records, 1921-1995, all listed on microfilm. Pair these with cemetery indexes and the library's sporadic Polk city directories, 1898-1998, to distinguish people with similar names or follow an address between censuses. Its separate online Wyandotte Herald collection spans 1880-1943 and offers a route to contemporary family notices.
What to confirm
Do not treat directory holdings as annual coverage or library microfilm as a certified vital-record service. The Herald collection explicitly warns that many nineteenth-century issues and part of 1943 are missing; its index is available through the library.
RESEARCH STOP 17
Downriver community newspapers on a dedicated research computer
What the collection offers
The society lists searchable scans of the Ile Camera for Grosse Ile, May 1945-July 2003 and 2007-2011; Wyandotte Tribune, 1947-1961; Ecorse Advertiser / River Rouge Herald, 1947-1984; Mellus newspapers, 1945-1970; and eight community weekend editions from March 1987-July 1990. These runs target places such as Allen Park, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, Southgate, and Taylor that can disappear under a broad Detroit newspaper search.
What to confirm
This is on-site digital access, not a public remote newspaper database. The society says Mellus scanning for 1971-1986 remains in progress. Library closures follow school holidays and weather-related closures, so confirm before travel.
RESEARCH STOP 18
African American church registers at Burton
What the collection offers
Burton lists Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church registers for 1911–1969, covering baptisms, marriages, deaths and membership (microfilm 1167); St. Matthew’s and St. Joseph’s Episcopal records for 1894–1975, including confirmations, baptisms, marriages and deaths (microfilm 1068); and Second Baptist Church marriage and death records for 1935–1979 (microfilm 1069). A known church affiliation can turn a broad Detroit search into a specific register request.
What to confirm
The inclusive dates do not establish that every event type survives for every year. Membership, sacramental entries and family relationships need to be interpreted from the actual register headings and wording.
Turn a lead into a useful request
“I am researching [person or address] in [locality] around [years]. Your finding aid lists [collection, box/folder or record group]. Does that item cover this place and period, and what are the options for an index check, copy or visit?”
Save the repository, collection title, record group, volume, page or folder, URL and access date. Keep the original record separate from your interpretation.
Suggest a correction, an overlooked collection or an updated access detail. An official link or source helps us check it before making a change. Please leave out private family documents and sensitive personal information.
Roads: Wayne County GIS, Road Jurisdiction ↗, state and local road geometry retrieved October 31, 2026. Selected interstate mainlines are shown on the overview.
Selected roads are shown for orientation. One-way restrictions, current construction, entrances and township boundaries are not shown. Map prepared October 31, 2026.
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