QLINE / Stop 6 of 12
QLINE stopMLK / Mack
Southbound: Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard · northbound: Mack Avenue
A stop between music and medicine: Orchestra Hall and the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, Albert Kahn’s former home and the Detroit Medical Center.
Live GPS positions
- Platforms
- two curbside platforms
- District
- Midtown, Brush Park
- From Congress Street
- 14 min
- From Grand Boulevard
- 10 min
- Sponsor in 2017
- Detroit Medical Center
01 / Story
The stop’s story
The cross street changes its name at Woodward: Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the west, Mack Avenue to the east, so the stop has two names too. Southbound you board on the west side at MLK Boulevard, northbound on the east side at Mack Avenue; both platforms are just south of the intersection, close to the bus stops. This is music country: Orchestra Hall went up in barely six months in 1919, because Ossip Gabrilowitsch would only take charge of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra if it had a hall of its own.
Since its first concert on October 23, 1919, Orchestra Hall has been famous for its acoustics. It was designed by C. Howard Crane, the architect of the Fox Theatre and the Detroit Opera House. In 2003 a jazz and chamber-music hall was added next door, and the complex has been called the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center ever since.
A short walk east, on the edge of Brush Park, stands Albert Kahn’s own house: Detroit’s most famous architect built it in 1906 and lived there until his death in 1942; today it is the headquarters of the Detroit Urban League. In 2017 the stop was sponsored by the Detroit Medical Center, whose hospitals are nearby.
- Orchestra Hall, home of the Detroit Symphony
- Albert Kahn’s 1906 house on the edge of Brush Park
- One stop, two names: MLK Boulevard and Mack Avenue
- Transfer to the Mack Avenue and Mid-City Loop buses
02 / From the window
What you see from here
The overhead wire now runs above you: from Winder Street to Canfield Street the streetcar draws power and charges. On your left Orchestra Hall’s classical facade; on your right Mack Avenue heads toward the Detroit Medical Center, with crosstown buses running east and west.
03 / Timeline
The stop’s timeline
Albert Kahn’s house
The architect builds his own home on the edge of Brush Park.
First concert at Orchestra Hall
The hall, built in barely six months, opens.
Fisher Music Center
A new jazz and chamber-music hall is added beside Orchestra Hall.
The stop opens
The stop is sponsored by the Detroit Medical Center.
The streetcar stops here every fifteen minutes, free of charge.
04 / Did you know?
Did you know?
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is the fourth-oldest orchestra in the United States.
Orchestra Hall’s 4,355-pipe organ was a gift from Mr. and Mrs. William H. Murphy in 1924.
Albert Kahn also designed the Fisher Building, which rises at the north end of the line by Grand Boulevard.
A closer look
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-26
Every fact is sourced. Where sources disagree (the number of stops, the weight of the cars or the construction cost, for example) we follow the primary, official source and say so in the text. The timetable comes from the QLINE’s official GTFS data and live positions from the RTA’s feed.
- QLINE – On the Line ↗
- City of Detroit Open Data – QLine Stops ↗
- QLINE – Plan your ride (archived 2017) ↗
- QLINE Transfer Guide 2022 (PDF) ↗
- QLINE station map 2021 (PDF) ↗
- City of Detroit Open Data – QLine M1 OnWire ↗
- Wikipedia – Orchestra Hall ↗
- Wikipedia – Albert Kahn House ↗
- Wikipedia – Detroit Medical Center ↗
- Wikipedia – Brush Park ↗
05 / Nearby
Places within walking distance
Quarter Detroit places around the stop, with straight-line distances.
3 min walk · 215 mDetroit Symphony Orchestra — Orchestra HallA historic hall celebrated for its acoustics, connecting Detroit’s symphonic and jazz heritage.- 5 min walk · 302 mWTF NightBike open-shop night for women, trans, femme and gender-nonconforming people to fix bikes, learn repairs or socialize. Free.
- 5 min walk · 338 mFine Arts TheatreC. Howard Crane's little house on Woodward opened as a playhouse in 1914, spent decades as a movie theatre and in the 1990s ran on and off as a jazz, rap and comedy club. The building has stood largely empty since.
6 min walk · 340 mACLU of Michigan – Nancy Katz & Margo Dichtelmiller LGBTQ+ ProjectThe ACLU of Michigan's LGBTQ+ legal project, launched in 2001: test cases, policy work and free legal intake for LGBTQ+ people.- 6 min walk · 395 mHowdy Fest / Howdy Saloon Detroit'Y'all-inclusive' queer country parties at The Old Miami, with line dancing, drag, burlesque and a mechanical bull.
7 min walk · 429 mMichigan Drag Bus – DetroitA roving drag show on a party bus, with lip-sync battles and games, departing Fridays from Detroit Shipping Company.- 10 min walk · 625 mHughMidtown housewares, barware and gift shop with a mid-century 'Mad Men' look, listed as LGBTQ-owned; it ran on Cass Avenue from 2012 to 2022.
11 min walk · 659 mMuseum of Contemporary Art DetroitContemporary art in a former auto dealership: an up-close encounter with experimental Detroit.- 11 min walk · 669 mColonial TheatreC. Howard Crane's movie house on Woodward, across from Brush Park, open from 1917 to 1975. The original plans called for nearly 3,000 seats and more than 200 boxes.
Around the stop, from the official QLINE list and the map
- Orchestra Hall 3 min
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s 1919 concert hall, now part of the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center.
- Albert Kahn House 3 min
The architect’s 1906 home, now the Detroit Urban League’s headquarters.
- Brush Park 8 min
Victorian mansions and new homes east of Woodward.
- Detroit Medical Center 14 min
Midtown’s hospital complex, affiliated with the medical schools of Wayne State and Michigan State.
06 / Events
Events near the stop
Upcoming events at venues around the stop.
Sep 26, 2026, 7:00 PMOpening Night Concert: Joshua Bell Plays Lalo
Detroit Symphony Orchestra — Orchestra Hall · 3 min walkOpening Night Concert: Joshua Bell Plays Lalo — concert at Orchestra Hall, Detroit.