Politics / Law / City history
William Woodbridge
1780–1861 · territorial secretary, governor of Michigan, U.S. senator
Lewis Cass's lifelong friend who came to Detroit in 1814 as territorial secretary and became Michigan's second governor; his farm became the site of Tiger Stadium, and the Woodbridge neighborhood bears his name.
- Born
Norwich, Connecticut- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 81- Detroit years
- 1814–1861
- Field
- Politics, Law, City history
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
William Woodbridge grew up in Marietta, Ohio, where he studied law alongside his friend Lewis Cass, and served in Ohio's legislature before Cass, newly governor of Michigan Territory, persuaded him to come to Detroit in 1814 as territorial secretary. He also served as collector of customs, as the territory's delegate to Congress and from 1828 to 1832 as a justice of the territorial supreme court. A Whig, he won the governorship in 1839 and served from 1840 to 1841, resigning when the Legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate, where he sat until 1847. His farm on the western edge of the city, at what became Michigan and Trumbull avenues, later became a park and then, from 1896, the site of the Detroit Tigers' ballpark, known for most of its life as Tiger Stadium. He died in Detroit in 1861 and is buried at Elmwood. The Woodbridge Historic District and Woodbridge Avenue recall him.
Highlights
- Second governor of the State of Michigan, 1840–1841
- U.S. senator from Michigan, 1841–1847
- Secretary of Michigan Territory from 1814
- Justice of the Michigan Territorial Supreme Court, 1828–1832
- His farm became the site of Tiger Stadium
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Memorial
Woodbridge Historic District
Victorian residential neighborhood west of Midtown, named after him along with Woodbridge Avenue.
Lived here · 1800s (farm)
The Corner (former Tiger Stadium site)
Demolished · 1896–2009
His farm at Michigan and Trumbull later became the Tigers' ballpark; Tiger Stadium was demolished in 2008–2009, and the field is now the Willie Horton Field at The Corner.
Buried here · 1861
Elmwood Cemetery
He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.