Grand River Avenue, or Michigan US-16 as it was ultimately designated, is one of Michigan s true Blue Highways an original two-lane, blacktop road still serving as a direct path through roadside America. Originally a Native American trail, this ancient path has been a westbound route from the Straits of Detroit to the eastern shores of Lake Michigan for more than 1,000 years. Over time, it has served as a footpath, horse trail, wagon rut, stagecoach route, plank road, and ultimately a two-lane highway that gave some of Americäs earliest motorists their first taste of long-distance automobile travel.

Authors Jon Milan and Gail Offen explore the route s many small towns, villages, and major cities, including Detroit, Brighton, Howell, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Portland, and Muskegon, using rare, vintage images from the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography. Part history and part travelogue, Images of America: Grand River Avenue explores the ordinary and the extraordinary: historical sites, curiosities, and even some of the newer attractions along the way.