42°21′ N   83°04′ WINDEPENDENT CITY GUIDE · HU / ENDETROIT + MICHIGAN
QUARTER
DETROIT
The Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard stop (2022)
42-BRT · CC BY-SA 4.0

QLINE / Stop 6 of 12

QLINE stopMLK / Mack

Southbound: Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard · northbound: Mack Avenue

A stop between music and medicine: Orchestra Hall and the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, Albert Kahn’s former home and the Detroit Medical Center.

↑ north: 8:14
↓ south: 7:40
Platforms
two curbside platforms
District
Midtown, Brush Park
From Congress Street
14 min
From Grand Boulevard
10 min
Sponsor in 2017
Detroit Medical Center

01 / Story

The stop’s story

The cross street changes its name at Woodward: Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the west, Mack Avenue to the east, so the stop has two names too. Southbound you board on the west side at MLK Boulevard, northbound on the east side at Mack Avenue; both platforms are just south of the intersection, close to the bus stops. This is music country: Orchestra Hall went up in barely six months in 1919, because Ossip Gabrilowitsch would only take charge of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra if it had a hall of its own.

Since its first concert on October 23, 1919, Orchestra Hall has been famous for its acoustics. It was designed by C. Howard Crane, the architect of the Fox Theatre and the Detroit Opera House. In 2003 a jazz and chamber-music hall was added next door, and the complex has been called the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center ever since.

A short walk east, on the edge of Brush Park, stands Albert Kahn’s own house: Detroit’s most famous architect built it in 1906 and lived there until his death in 1942; today it is the headquarters of the Detroit Urban League. In 2017 the stop was sponsored by the Detroit Medical Center, whose hospitals are nearby.

  1. Orchestra Hall, home of the Detroit Symphony
  2. Albert Kahn’s 1906 house on the edge of Brush Park
  3. One stop, two names: MLK Boulevard and Mack Avenue
  4. Transfer to the Mack Avenue and Mid-City Loop buses

02 / From the window

What you see from here

The overhead wire now runs above you: from Winder Street to Canfield Street the streetcar draws power and charges. On your left Orchestra Hall’s classical facade; on your right Mack Avenue heads toward the Detroit Medical Center, with crosstown buses running east and west.

03 / Timeline

The stop’s timeline

  1. Albert Kahn’s house

    The architect builds his own home on the edge of Brush Park.

  2. First concert at Orchestra Hall

    The hall, built in barely six months, opens.

  3. Fisher Music Center

    A new jazz and chamber-music hall is added beside Orchestra Hall.

  4. The stop opens

    The stop is sponsored by the Detroit Medical Center.

  5. The streetcar stops here every fifteen minutes, free of charge.

04 / Did you know?

Did you know?

  • The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is the fourth-oldest orchestra in the United States.

  • Orchestra Hall’s 4,355-pipe organ was a gift from Mr. and Mrs. William H. Murphy in 1924.

  • Albert Kahn also designed the Fisher Building, which rises at the north end of the line by Grand Boulevard.

Orchestra Hall on Woodward, with the QLINE’s overhead wire above (2025)
Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0
Albert Kahn’s 1906 house on the edge of Brush Park (2008)
Andrew Jameson ( talk ) at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
A streetcar at Woodward and Peterboro Street (2021)
Bluediamond616 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-26

Every fact is sourced. Where sources disagree (the number of stops, the weight of the cars or the construction cost, for example) we follow the primary, official source and say so in the text. The timetable comes from the QLINE’s official GTFS data and live positions from the RTA’s feed.

05 / Nearby

Places within walking distance

Quarter Detroit places around the stop, with straight-line distances.

Around the stop, from the official QLINE list and the map

  • Orchestra Hall 3 min

    The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s 1919 concert hall, now part of the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center.

  • Albert Kahn House 3 min

    The architect’s 1906 home, now the Detroit Urban League’s headquarters.

  • Brush Park 8 min

    Victorian mansions and new homes east of Woodward.

  • Detroit Medical Center 14 min

    Midtown’s hospital complex, affiliated with the medical schools of Wayne State and Michigan State.

06 / Events

Events near the stop

Upcoming events at venues around the stop.

All events ↗