CRIME CRAWL · DOCUMENTED ROUTE 01
A multi-location record of racial violence across a divided wartime city. This path follows places named by authoritative sources; it does not turn suffering into spectacle or pretend every movement can be reconstructed.
CONTENT NOTE · THIS PAGE DISCUSSES RACIAL VIOLENCE, KILLINGS, POLICE VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION. THE ROUTE IS PRESENTED FOR HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING.
BEFORE THE FIRST FIGHT
Wartime migration intensified Detroit’s housing shortage while Black residents faced segregation, unequal access to housing and employment discrimination. Those conditions formed the background to the violence that erupted June 20–22, 1943.
FIVE DOCUMENTED LOCATIONS & STAGES
The numbering follows the broad chronology established by the sources. It is not a claim that every participant followed this sequence.
BELLE ISLE · JUNE 20, 1943
With an enormous Sunday crowd on Belle Isle, racially motivated fighting began among youths and spread across the island.
EXACT PUBLIC PLACE VERIFIED · INDIVIDUAL MOVEMENTS NOT MAPPED
BELLE ISLE BRIDGE & FERRY DOCKS
Fighting spread toward the bridge and ferry docks as visitors tried to leave. Police restored order on Belle Isle around midnight, but the crisis did not end there.
NAMED LOCATIONS VERIFIED · NO SINGLE STREET PATH CLAIMED
FOREST & HASTINGS · PARADISE VALLEY
A false report that a Black woman and her baby had been thrown from the bridge circulated at the Forest Social Club. Violence developed around Forest and Hastings and moved north.
INTERSECTION AREA VERIFIED · SOCIAL CLUB ADDRESS NOT PINNED
ROXY THEATRE AREA · WOODWARD AVENUE
Another false rumor circulated among white residents. By early morning, a mob formed near the Roxy Theatre and attacked Black people leaving the theater area, riding buses and traveling by automobile.
NAMED THEATRE AREA AND AVENUE VERIFIED · EXACT CROWD BOUNDARY NOT CLAIMED
DETROIT THOROUGHFARES · JUNE 21–22
After local authorities requested federal intervention, troops arrived with military vehicles and weapons, cleared major streets and helped restore order.
CITYWIDE RESPONSE VERIFIED · NO INVENTED TROOP ROUTE
SOURCE TRAIL
This page uses the Detroit 1943 research notes and the documented source comparison. Differences between published totals or troop counts remain in the source ledger rather than being silently combined.
RESEARCH DISCIPLINE
No McGraw Station claim appears on this public route yet. A secondary reference says the station was breached during the unrest, but an authoritative supporting record has not been located in this pass. The connection remains a research lead and will be added only after verification.
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