Beneath the Surface: History and Potential Future of Underground Clinton River in Pontiac
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Sept. 12, 2024)
Pontiac, MI – Visitors to cities like Auburn Hills, Mt. Clemens, and Rochester may notice that the rushing waters of the Clinton River are part of the communities’ landscapes and charm. Yet in Pontiac the very same river flows through an underground concrete tunnel, hidden away so many people don’t even realize it is there.
When did this massive feat of infrastructure happen, and why?
Mike McGuinness, Executive Director of the Oakland History Center and also Pontiac City Council President, recently gave a detailed presentation about how Pontiac grew around the river and eventually came to bury it. The Crofoot Ballroom hosted the presentation which was so packed with interested parties that listeners had to stand around the edges and the back.
It took a couple hours to get through the fascinating history, with the story twisting and turning much like the river itself. The Clinton River begins from wetlands in northern Oakland County near Springfield Township. There are several small lakes created by dams, including Sylvan Lake and Crystal Lake. The river flows through Pontiac and eastern Oakland County and through Macomb County before emptying in Lake St. Clair.
The Clinton River was called “Nottawassippi,” by Native Americans, which means “like a rattlesnake,” referring to the twists and turns of the 83 mile-long beauty.
For a while European settlers called it the Huron River, but was officially renamed in July 1824 in honor of New York’s Governor DeWitt Clinton.
In the early 1800s, the Saginaw Trail connected the Detroit River to the Saginaw Bay. Where the trail crossed the river became a busy settlement which became a village in 1837 and became a city in 1861. During the 1820s and 30s the Federal government and the territorial government of Michigan invested heavily in exploring, and utilizing, waterways for transit and in 1827 the Clinton River was studied.
The community grew along the banks of the river in a somewhat hodgepodge manner, with companies installing mill dams, to harness the power of flowing water to help make goods and process lumber and food products, while waterways also helped to transport those items between communities.
But without regulation there were sometimes disputes as neighbors had to sus out the consequences when one business created a dam that changed the flow for those downstream. There were also challenges getting around town. Because of all the twists and turns, the city had numerous bridges of varying quality, width and strength.
Railroad lines became part of the landscape around this time as well, with a crucial line connecting Pontiac and Detroit. This helped the area grow further, becoming a prime location for manufacturing. First Pontiac built frames for wagons, and eventually that grew into automobile production.
As the population increased, so did the amount of waste being poured in the river. Garbage and human waste filled the river and lined the banks, with cities downstream of Pontiac being bombarded with the stench. Along with human waste came the chemical waste of industry, which also used the river for disposal.
Flooding was also a problem, with notable floods documented in 1870, 1861, 1881 and 1907. The City was even sued over failure to manage the flooding in 1876.
In 1909 Beaudette Wagon Wheels has opened, and by 1919 they grew to cross multiple city blocks. In time they added chassis production for wagons, and the company was absorbed by Body by Fisher.
In 1921 Pontiac became home to the first wastewater treatment plant in Michigan. McGuinness noted that this wasn’t the high-tech kind of filtration system that we have today, but it was a step in the right direction for public health and the environment.
Around this time, Pontiac was a bustling city for shopping and for jobs. Apartment buildings popped up along the river’s edge to accommodate the influx of auto workers, and people also began to move outward. The Oakland County Farmer’s Market started, connecting the rural farmers of Oakland County with the city-dwelling workers and those in the suburbs, helping further solidify Pontiac’s place as the heart of Oakland County.
In the 1920s electric streetcars ran through Downtown Pontiac, and the first skyscraper in Oakland County was built at 30 N. Saginaw Street. Before I-75 was built, Saginaw Street was the main route north for travelers and it was trendy for people from Detroit to come to Pontiac to shop. The population in Pontiac had a trend of doubling every ten years from the 1900s on, until more recent years where loss of jobs and industry impacted the once bustling town.
A hatchery in Waterford helped to replenish fish populations, but by the late 1950s the water was just too polluted and the hatchery had to close. The pollution also had an impact downriver in Mt. Clemens. The city had once been known for its health spas with mineral baths, but the smell of sewage and effects of pollution put a damper on the practices.
By 1962, strip malls and sprawl were impacting downtowns across America, including Pontiac. That year Michigan’s first enclosed mall was built. Originally known as Pontiac Mall, it eventually became known as Summit Place. While this attraction brought visitors to the area, it also drew people away from the downtown to the Telegraph Road area.
The 1960s were a peak time for population in Pontiac. The community had over 28,000 students in the school district at the time. Now there are about 3,000. With so many families and so many thriving businesses, officials looked for ways to make the community better – including options for the polluted Clinton River.
Urban renewal was also popular at the time, as many cities faced similar timelines of growth and deterioration. Federal programs sought to demolish older buildings and to create new infrastructure, including more roads and freeways. While this spirit of revival aimed to improve cities, it also tended to most impact established communities of black and brown residents. History has many examples of freeways dividing communities and displacing established residents and businesses.
In Pontiac the Woodward Loop was constructed as a way to divert traffic around the outside of the downtown, mainly to assist General Motors in transporting their parts and their tens of thousands of employees between the various plants they had around town. Residents packed meetings to protest the design and the cost.
Over 170 buildings were closed and torn down in this era of modernization.
The Oakland County Courthouse, which had contributed jobs and visitors to the downtown atmosphere, was moved north to Telegraph in 1959.
Along with those projects came the decision to bury the Clinton River. While it was promoted as a way to hide the pollution, it also helped pave the way for the roadway changes that would help the auto manufacturers.
From 1963-64 construction crews assembled gigantic underground concrete tunnels near the river’s natural path. “These are true concrete tombs,” McGuinness said as he shared photos of the workers looking tiny compared to the sections of tunnel being installed.
The tunnels were placed under what is now the Phoenix Center, as well as parking lot 9, the library parking lot, and the McClaren parking lot. The whole thing runs from Bagley Street, to the opening just outside of the Woodward Loop near M-59/Huron Street where it continues in a concrete channel. It does not follow the natural winding footprint of the original Nottawassippi, but instead shortens the journey of the water to pass under the city with the shortest pathway possible.
In 1972 the Clinton River Watershed Council was formed to organize cleanup efforts, as well as to promote trails and recreation along the river. The Clinton River Trail has been a long-term labor of love, though there is still a gap in the trail through Pontiac which organizers hope to remedy in the coming years as more connecting sections get added.
Ottawa Towers and The Phoenix Center (named after a GM-made car that was only produced for two years) was built in 1981 over top of the Clinton River tunnel. The center provided a space for concerts and festivals, as well as parking for the apartments and offices in the area. But eventually the good times stopped and the property fell into disrepair. Lawsuits have plagued the property over the years, though most recently Oakland County has purchased the towers and the center, with the intent of demolishing the center to replace it with a public square with greenspace and seating.
The idea of restoring the river and incorporating it into the downtown landscape has often been discussed, though cost and existing buildings and infrastructure are a significant deterrent. In 2008 there was a feasibility study done that determined it would not be fiscally possible. In 2013 the Urban Land Institute also looked at the possibility of “daylighting” the river in Pontiac.
Because sections of the river run under what is now private property, the challenge would be even more daunting. However, with the anticipated demolition of the Phoenix Center and county-owned property, daylighting a small section could, technically, be a possibility. Though there are no plans in place to do that.
Learn more about the Clinton River and other parts of Pontiac’s history, as well as Oakland County history, at the Oakland History Center’s website https://www.ocphs.org
