[3] At the center of the plaza is the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain, designed by Isamu Noguchi and Walter Budd in 1978.

[3] It wasn't until 1890 that Hazen S. Pingree, Detroit's mayor at that time, suggested the location would be ideal for the creation of a waterfront center for city functions.

Visitors to Hart Plaza can see across the river to Windsor, Ontario's riverfront and the Belle Isle State Park.

[11] The plaza's main entrance is located at the foot of Woodward Avenue, south of the Monument to Joe Louis.

Located west of the entrance is the Michigan Labor Legacy Landmark, whose centerpiece is a 63-foot tall steel arch sculpture by David Barr and Sergio de Giusti titled Transcending.

[13] Near the center of the courtyard is the focal point of Hart Plaza, the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain, also designed by Isamu Noguchi.

[14] The lower level of Hart Plaza includes an open-air amphitheater near the center of the courtyard, dressing rooms, food preparation areas with kitchen service food court, three sets of public rest rooms, permanent beverage booths, temporary storage areas, offices, Detroit Police Department post at the southeast corner of the plaza, art gallery, and loading dock.

It was sculpted by Edward Dwight, after winning a competition to design the International Memorial to the Underground Railroad, and dedicated on October 20, 2001.

[18] The companion monument by the same sculptor, Tower of Freedom, is located in Windsor, Ontario's Civic Esplanade, on Pitt Street East near Caesars Windsor, and features a former slave raising his arms to celebrate his emancipation while a Quaker woman offers assistance to a woman and her child as another child looks back toward Detroit.

Detroit was one of the largest terminals of the Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists aiding enslaved people seeking freedom.

With passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, many runaways left their homes in Detroit and crossed the river to Canada to remain free.

With passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, many runaways left their homes in Detroit and crossed the river to Canada to remain free.

The monument's plaque mentions several Detroit institutions that were active in the Underground Railroad and continue to serve the city's population in the Twenty-first century.

[21] Additionally, Representative John Conyers Jr. introduced a resolution to the United States Congress celebrating the 10-year commemoration of the sculpture, however it did not get past committee referrals.

[22][23] A three-day conference, "Celebrating the River at Midnight -The Fluid Frontier: Slavery, War, Freedom, and the Underground Railroad", was also held to commemorate the anniversary.

[24] Located at the center of Hart Plaza, the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain was designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1978 and built in 1981.

[15] Anna Thompson Dodge gave the City of Detroit $1 million towards the construction of a fountain in memory of her late husband and son.

The stainless steel fountain is composed of two legs topped by a ring to the height of 30 feet above a circular, black granite pool.

[25][26] Pylon is a stainless steel spire sculpture designed by Isamu Noguchi positioned near the entrance to Hart Plaza.

[28] The sculpture was commissioned via Smith, Hinchman and Grylls Associates, Inc. and built in 1981 as a companion piece to the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain.