Famous people's places / Detroit – Downtown
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac Statue, Hart Plaza
A riverfront statue at Hart Plaza honoring Detroit's French founder, unveiled on the city's 300th birthday in 2001.
01 / The story of this place
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On July 24, 2001, the exact 300th anniversary of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac's 1701 landing that founded Detroit, the city unveiled a bronze statue of the French explorer and colonial officer at Hart Plaza on the riverfront, close to where his expedition is believed to have come ashore. Sculptors William Kieffer and Ann Feeley created the piece as part of Detroit's tercentennial celebrations, and a companion marker nearby commemorates the Cadillac Convoy that reenacted his arrival. Cadillac, for whom the Cadillac automobile brand and Detroit's Cadillac Square are also named, remains a fixture of the city's founding mythology, and the statue is one of several monuments along the Detroit River that mark the city's French colonial origins.
- Unveiled July 24, 2001, exactly 300 years after Cadillac's 1701 landing
- Created by sculptors William Kieffer and Ann Feeley
- Stands at Hart Plaza near the believed landing site of Cadillac's expedition
- Part of Detroit's tercentennial celebrations, alongside a Cadillac Convoy marker
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 2
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Isamu Noguchi 1904–1988 · sculptor, landscape architect, designer
Worked here
The riverfront plaza he helped design, with his Dodge Fountain and 120-foot stainless-steel Pylon.
- Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac 1658–1730 · French officer, explorer and founder of Detroit
Memorial
Statue by William Kieffer and Ann Feeley unveiled on July 24, 2001, Detroit's 300th birthday, near the riverfront where Cadillac landed; a Cadillac Convoy marker stands beside it.
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Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
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