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Few suburbs can claim to have helped win a world war and reshape American car design, but Warren can. Just north of Detroit's 8 Mile Road in Macomb County, it is Michigan's third-largest city, a working place of tidy brick neighborhoods, auto plants and engineering campuses rather than a resort town.
In 1941 Chrysler opened the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant here, and thousands of Sherman tanks rolled out of it during the Second World War; the site is still home to the U.S. Army's tank and vehicle command. After the war General Motors hired Eero Saarinen to design its Technical Center, a sleek modernist campus with a gleaming water tower and a domed auditorium that is now a National Historic Landmark.
Visitors come for that architecture, for the old Village of Warren crossroads with its pioneer cemetery, and for striking 1960s churches such as Saint Anne. Downtown Detroit, the Detroit Zoo and Lake St. Clair beaches are all within a 20 to 30 minute drive, so Warren works well as an inexpensive base.
Eero Saarinen's 1956 research campus for General Motors, with long glass-walled studios around a large reflecting lake. It is a National Historic Landmark and still a working GM site, so the interior is closed except on rare tour days; the best public views are from Mound Road and 12 Mile Road.
The polished stainless-steel water tower beside the Tech Center lake is the campus icon, a slim column topped by a flattened sphere that catches the sky. Photographers come at sunrise and sunset when it reflects in the water; it is easy to spot from roads along the campus edge.
The modern heart of Warren, where City Hall and the main public library face an open plaza with fountains and lawns. The square hosts summer concerts and holiday events, and the library is a pleasant spot to rest. Parking is free around the complex.
Built by Chrysler in 1941 to an Albert Kahn design, this plant produced thousands of M4 Sherman tanks in the Second World War and kept building armor for decades. Today the Detroit Arsenal next door is an active Army base closed to the public, so this is a sight to understand from outside while driving Van Dyke.
The small area around Chicago Road and Mound Road is where the original Village of Warren grew in the 1800s. Look for state historic markers, the restored Warren Township District 4 schoolhouse and the old Warren Union Cemetery with weathered pioneer headstones. A short walk covers it all.
Founded in 1925 by African American business leaders in Detroit at a time when burial choices were limited by segregation, this landscaped cemetery on 13 Mile Road carries a Michigan historical marker. Visitors may walk the grounds quietly during open hours; read the marker near the entrance first.
A 1964 parish church known for its expressive sculpture: carved porch reliefs of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and Christ, angels on the column capitals, a tall bell tower with figures and a high cross. Walk around the outside to see the reliefs, and respect services if you step inside.
A large city recreation center on Arden Avenue with indoor pools, fitness rooms, a gym and an auditorium used for concerts and shows. Day passes are sold to non-residents, which makes it a handy rainy-day stop with kids; check the city website for open swim times before going.
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Photo: Nheyob, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Darren56brown, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Balthazar Korab, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Darren56brown, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Darren56brown, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Darren56brown, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Nheyob, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Nheyob, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Nheyob, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: ajay_suresh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
