Open Threads

The New Boston, Michigan Day Thread

New Boston is an unincorporated community in southwest Wayne County, Michigan (approximately due south of Detroit Metro Airport, which, despite its name, serves multiple international airlines and destinations), lying between the lower Huron River and the “Downriver” communities along Detroit’s southern border. Founded in 1827 and originally named “Catville,” (an abbreviation of founder C.A. Trouville’s initials), it was renamed after the Massachusetts Boston (itself named after the Lincolnshire Boston) in 1868. Michigan itself is in the American Midwest (certainly an integral part of the “Old Northwest” as defined by the Northwest Ordinances of the 1780s) though both residents and outsiders will sometimes argue whether it’s part of the “Upper Midwest” or its own unique, quasi-Canadian category (the plethora of adjoining Great Lakes seem to complicate things).

I was too busy (fruitlessly) changing a bike tire to get any good pictures of New Boston, so here’s the scenic French Landing Footbridge several miles upriver in Van Buren Township.

I was nearly stranded therein two weeks back on a 100k bike ride (largely to scout the Huron bike trails for my planned ride to the Huron’s mouth next week), but was cheered during my (abortive, as it turned out) tire repair by the nearby roosters kept by the owners of the Blue Sky Ice Cream and Hamburger stand (as with the rest of New Boston, bearing a mailing address registered in nearby Romulus). Time’s running out, but I wouldn’t mind a more leisurely visit in future when the stand’s open and I have more time to explore the nearby Lower Huron Metropark (part of an extensive network in Wayne, Washtenaw, and Oakland Counties along both Huron and Clinton river valleys).

Different available modes of transportation available in the area—a traffic pile-up just offscreen to the left, and a bike hosting the photographer; there’s a plane just visible in the distance as well as a freight train that was backed up almost to Romulus itself and prevented me from getting to the I-275 until I’d ridden another three miles back up north. It was a day, lemme tell ya.

The header image was going to be the train backup, but I decided that was too depressing and instead went with this helpful sign for the Iron Belle Trail (hopefully, on its completion, to run from one end of Michigan to the other) in Van Buren Township; New Boston lies more or less at the conjunction of the Lower Huron and Willow Metroparks.

Planning to be on a ride by the time this posts, this time to check out some of the Upper Huron around Kensington Metropark and Milford. Hoping to ride all the way to Lake Erie (and upshore to Detroit) next week. Have a great day!