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Elizabeth Park is a county park mostly located on an artificial island in the Detroit River in southern Wayne County, Michigan. The park is sometimes but rarely referred to as Slocum's Island — the historic name of the island on which the park is located. The park is located within the city limits of Trenton along Jefferson Avenue and just north of the Wayne County Bridge leading to Grosse Ile. Elizabeth Park is recognized as the first county park established in the state of Michigan.〔 The island is separated from the mainland by a narrow canal and is located on the western shores of the Detroit River in the Trenton Channel. The island itself is commonly referred to as Elizabeth Park, and the name Slocum's Island has largely fallen into disuse. While Elizabeth Park occupies the northern portion of the island, the portion south of Grosse Ile Parkway is occupied by the large Trenton Channel Power Plant. ==History== The area was occupied by the Native American tribe the Wyandot for several centuries before Europeans arrived to colonize the area. The Wyandot settled the village of Maguagon along the banks of the Detroit River, which was the site of the minor Battle of Maguaga during the War of 1812. The area was soon settled as Truaxton in 1816 by Abram Caleb Truax, who was a French Major who decided to stay in the area after the war.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.trentonmi.org/nav/departments/index.asp?Profile=32 )〕 In 1827, Lewis Cass, the governor of the Michigan Territory, organized Monguagon Township with Truax as the first township supervisor. As a part of the township, the area of Truaxton was renamed Trenton in 1847 and incorporated as a village in 1855. Giles Bryan Slocum (1808–1884), who was an early businessman and landowner, moved to Truaxton in 1834. He built Truaxton's first dock along the Detroit River in that summer. He would later manage docks up and down the Detroit River. He used his wealth to purchase three miles (4.8 km) of Truaxton's riverfront. He built his large estate on what he called Slocum's Island, which was partially separated from the mainland by his own constructed canal. Slocum married Sophia Truax (daughter of Abram Caleb Truax) in 1838, and she inherited his estate when he died in 1884. She continued to live on Slocum's Island with her only daughter, Elizabeth Nichols (''née'' Slocum). Sophia Truax died in 1912, and Nichols then inherited the island. Nichols died in 1919, and her children inherited the property. They donated the estate to the Wayne County Park Trustees in October 1919 on the condition that it be set aside as “Elizabeth Park” in honor of their mother. The Slocum estate, which consisted of 162 acres (65 ha), was given to the county and organized as Michigan's first county park.〔〔 The donation was helpful in the creation of the Wayne County Park System, which had been hindered by a lack of funding to acquire their own properties. Though the new park system continued to have no funding afterward, the development of Elizabeth Park was made possible by financial support from the Michigan Department of Transportation, which improved the canal, created bridges connecting the island to the mainland, and built the road that circles the park.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elizabeth Park (Michigan)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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