DETROIT (WXYZ) — The colorful murals, family-owned businesses and cultural landmarks that define southwest Detroit today tell a story much deeper than what visitors might see at first glance.
For generations, Latino families have called this neighborhood home, helping shape Detroit through their labor, culture and determination. Their roots trace back nearly a century.
Watch Sara Molina's video report below:
For Raymond Lozano, executive director of the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, that history is personal.
As he flips through old family photographs, Lozano recalls stories passed down through generations.
"The Mexican Revolution took place from 1910 to 1920. Everything came to a stop," he said. "So my grandfather had to do something to keep the family going, and his dream was to come here to the United States."
Lozano said his grandfather brought 16 family members from Aguascalientes, Mexico, to Detroit, where they found work in the region's sugar beet industry.
"I always tell people we all came here to work for somebody," Lozano said.
Their story mirrors that of many Latino families who arrived in Michigan during the early 20th century. According to Anthony Mora, an associate professor of history and Latino studies at the University of Michigan, jobs in agriculture and industry attracted workers seeking opportunities and stability.
"The people of Latin American descent are some of the hardest-working people in the nation," Mora said.
Mora said the sugar beet industry and Ford Motor Company's famous $5-a-day wage helped draw immigrants from Mexico and other parts of Latin America to Southeast Michigan.
But those communities also faced intense challenges.
Following the Great Depression, the federal government's Mexican Repatriation efforts led thousands of people to leave Detroit, dramatically shrinking the city's Mexican population.
"There was a major backlash against immigration, especially immigration that had come from Mexico," Mora said. "Thousands of people left or were forced to leave the Detroit community."
Lozano's family was among those affected.
"My family did experience a couple of times where they were sent back to Mexico," Lozano said. "But Mexico's economy struggled so much. So we've settled back here in Detroit."
That ability to rebuild and return, community leaders say, has become a defining characteristic of Latinos and southwest Detroit.
Many of these families initially settled in Corktown before moving southwest as the community expanded throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The construction of Interstate 75 forced families to adapt and move once again.
Lozano said, that wouldn't be the last time the community had to rebuild.
"The highway construction in 2015," Lozano said. "It destroyed Mexicantown at that time."
More recently, he said the community faced another wave of hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yet residents continued supporting local businesses, preserving cultural traditions and investing in the neighborhood's future.
Despite those contributions, many advocates say the area's historical significance has gone largely unrecognized. Southwest Detroit only recently received historic recognition for parts of the Bagley Street corridor, even though Latino families have been building the community for decades.
February 2026 video report: Bagley-West Vernor Historic District earns recognition on National Historic Register of Places
At a time when immigration remains a national political flashpoint, Lozano said preserving that history is more important than ever.
"That tie to our history and our legacy, that's all there," Lozano said. "And they can really benefit from it. All they (the younger generation) gotta do is tap into it."
As Hispanic Heritage Month continues, Lozano hopes people will look beyond the restaurants, murals and landmarks that have become symbols of southwest Detroit and take time to understand the generations of sacrifice, perseverance and culture that helped create them.
"It's changed. You have to accept change regardless," Lozano said. "My philosophy is it's just how you manage change."
Today, the story of southwest Detroit remains one of resilience, a legacy carried forward by families whose roots in the city continue to grow deeper with each generation. To read more about Lozano's organization, visit Mexicantown Community Development Corporation's website.
