The Potawatomi people and other Native Americans occupy Grosse Ile.
1600c
French explorers named the island as la grosse ile, the "big island".
1679c
Father Louis Hennepin accompanied fellow French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle on the ship Le Griffon in exploring the Great Lakes.
1701
French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and his convoy of 25 canoes sailed down the Detroit River and camped on the shore of Grosse Ile on his way to founding the City of Detroit. On the morning of July 24, Cadillac returned upriver and reached a spot on the shore near the present intersection of West Jefferson and Shelby streets in Detroit where he claimed French possession of the territory under the authority of King Louis XIV.
1763
British control Michigan after victory in the French and Indian War.
1776
William and Alexander Macomb purchase Grosse Ile from Potowadomi chiefs. Although Grosse Ile maintained its own name and identity as a community beginning in the 1700s, it obtained status as an independent unit of government on October 27, 1914 when it was officially separated from Monguagon Township.
1800s
Grosse Ile became a popular destination for boaters. An amusement park, dance pavilion and bathing beach were built on Sugar Island, one of the twelve islands which comprise Grosse Ile. People made the trip to Sugar Island from the Michigan side of the Detroit River by paddle steamers.
1867
St. James Episcopal Church, the oldest church building on island, is built in part with funds provided by freed slave Elizabeth Denison.
1873
Canada Southern Bridge Company, a subsidiary of the Canada Southern Railroad Company, builds a railroad to Grosse Ile for passenger and freight service. The company built bridges over the Detroit River enabling trains to transfer to ferryboats off Stony Island. The boats went on to Gordon, Ontario where the train cars were put back on rails to continue on to Buffalo and elsewhere. Following dissolution of the Canada Southern Railroad in 1883, the Michigan Central Railroad took over operations and established rail services between Grosse Ile, Trenton, Detroit and other cities.
1894
Federal government funds construction of a series of channel range lights to assist navigation of the Detroit River.
1800s
Summer homes were built along Grosse Ile’s shoreline and the southern end of the island.
1904
The Michigan Central Railroad builds depot near East River Road on the east side of the Grosse Ile.
1905
Cameron Waterman invents outboard motor and establishes Waterman Marine Motor Company.
1913
Edward W. Voigt opens the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge.
1920
US Census totaled 802 people living on Grosse Ile.
1920s
Airport constructed on Grosse Ile and ZMC-2, first all-metal airship, built by Aircraft Development Corporation.
1929
U.S. Navy opens Naval Air Station Grosse Ile.
1931
Wayne County converts the Michigan Central Railroad's defunct rail bridge into a publicly owned bridge for vehicles and pedestrians.
1954
U.S. Army opens Nike Ajax missile base.
1963
Nike Ajax missile base decommissioned.
1969
Naval Air Station Grosse Ile decommissioned.
1971
Federal government deeds Naval Air Station Grosse Ile to Grosse Ile Township.
1990s
Grosse Ile Township establishes the "Open Space Program" funded by voter-approved dedicated local property tax to buy undeveloped land.
1993
The Grosse Ile Land & Nature Conservancy is established to aid in the protection and stewardship of the diverse natural resources on the island.
2001
Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is established. It is the first International Wildlife Refuge in North America. The refuge, which includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and riverfront lands along 48 miles of the Detroit River and western Lake Erie, was established to help protect and restore habitat for 29 species of waterfowl, 65 kinds of fish, and 300 species of migratory birds in Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Grosse Ile is located entirely within its borders.
