March 22, 1954

The country’s first regional shopping mall opened in Southfield.

As Detroit’s population spread north and west out of the city, the J. L. Hudson Company built the huge Northland Shopping Center at Eight Mile Road, the boundary between Wayne and Oakland counties. The mall’s central store, a multi-storied J. L. Hudson’s, was flanked by one hundred smaller shops. The mall also had acres of parking lots. The success at Northland was soon adopted by developers all across the country.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.