Wyandotte (Michigan)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wyandotte
Wayne County Michigan Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Wyandotte highlighted.svg
Location in county and Michigan
Basic data
Foundation : 1867
State : United States
State : Michigan
County : Wayne County
Coordinates : 42 ° 13 ′  N , 83 ° 10 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 13 ′  N , 83 ° 10 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Inhabitants :
Metropolitan Area :
28,006 (status: 2000)
4,403,437 (status: 2009)
Population density : 2,044.2 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 18.1 km 2  (approx. 7 mi 2 ) of
which 13.7 km 2  (approx. 5 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 177 m
Postcodes : 48192, 48193
Area code : +1 734
FIPS : 26-88900
GNIS ID : 1616849
Website : www.wyandotte.net
Mayor : Joseph R. Peterson

Wyandotte is a city in Wayne County in the US state of Michigan . It is located in southeast Michigan, about 18 km south of Detroit on the Detroit River , and is part of the group of localities known as the Downriver .
The name comes from an earlier settlement of the Wyandot (Hurons).

geography

The urban area is located at an average altitude of 177 m about ten kilometers north of the confluence of the Detroit River in Lake Erie and has an area of ​​18.1 km². It forms the southern end of the metropolitan area of ​​Detroit and is bounded on the west by Southgate , by Lincoln Park in the northwest, by Riverview in the south and Ecorse in the north.

The Michigan State Highway M-85 leads as Fort Street by Wyandotte. In the west of the city, Interstate 75 runs between Detroit and Toledo . The nearest major airfield is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport about 15 km west of the city.

Wyandotte is the sister city of Komaki in Japan .

population

At the 2000 census , Wyandotte had 28,006 residents, more than 96% of whom were white . Between 1990 and 2000 the population decreased by nine percent. Many of the residents are of Polish (22.5%), German (21.9%) and Irish (17.5%) descent.

The per capita income was $ 22,185, with about 6.2% of the population living below the poverty line .

history

In the 18th century there was a settlement of the Wyandot or Wendat, a tribe of the Hurons , whose center was in the area of ​​today's Eureka Avenue and Oak Street , at the site of today's Wyandotte . From here Chief Pontiac planned his attack on Detroit in 1763.

In 1818, the Wyandot signed a treaty with the government giving up their land. They first moved to the Flat Rock, Michigan area , then to Ohio , Kansas, and finally to Oklahoma . The name of Wyandotte County (Kansas) witnesses this migration.

One of the first white settlers to come to Wyandotte after the Indians left was John Biddle (1792-1859), a former Army major from Pennsylvania who fought in the British-American War and later had a successful political career: initially Mayor of Detroit, then a member of Congress , chairman of Michigan Central Railroad , member and later speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, and candidate for governor of Michigan . West Jefferson Boulevard from Detroit was named after Biddle after Monroe County Biddle Avenue in the Wyandotte metropolitan area .

Wyandotte, 1896

In 1835, Biddle bought 2200 acres (9 km²) near what is now Biddle Avenue and Vinewood Avenue and started a farm he called "The Wyandotte". In 1854 he sold the property to Eber Ward of the Eureka Iron Co. for $ 44,000. As a result, he became involved in steel production, and in 1864 introduced the Bessemer process to the United States using iron ore from Michigan's Upper Peninsula . As the steel industry flourished in and around Detroit, several steel factories also sprung up in Wyandotte, and Henry Ford from nearby Dearborn was later able to rely on the capacity of the local steel industry to introduce mass automobile production. In addition to the steel industry, numerous salt mines and the chemical industry based on them contributed to the economic prosperity of the city.

One of the steel companies in Wyandotte was the Eureka Iron Works , which were very successful economically, especially in the late 18th century. John Van Alstyne, an executive with the company, drafted a blueprint for the town of Wyandotte in the late 1850s. In 1867, Wyandotte was formally incorporated and Van Alstyne became mayor. A street on the Detroit River is named after him today.

Economy and industry

An early figure in Wyandotte's industry was John Baptiste Ford , who ran a factory that made soda products from salt used in the manufacture of glass. In 1893 he founded the Michigan Alkali Company , which produced sodium hydrogen carbonate , sodium carbonate and caustic soda , among other things . The company was later renamed Wyandotte Chemicals Co. and produced various soaps and detergents until it became part of BASF's Wyandotte plants. Today the chemical industry has largely disappeared from the cityscape. A prominent exception are the existing BASF Wyandotte plants ( 42 ° 13 ′ 1.6 ″  N , 83 ° 8 ′ 47 ″  W )

Wyandotte played an important role in shipbuilding from the 1870s to the 1920s . During this time, a variety of model types were produced in the city, from steamers to tugs to large ferries . In 1873, Ward's Wyandotte Iron Ship Building Works produced the USA's first steel hull boat, a tug called the Sport.

From around 1920 Wyandotte developed into an important production facility for toys. The company All Metal Products Company (later Wyandotte Toys ) was founded in 1920, it produced a variety of different toys and was the largest producer of toy guns and guns in the USA until the 1950s. The company moved to Ohio in the early 1950s and was bought by Louis Marx and Company three years later .

Administration, public services and educational institutions

Mayor of Wyandotte is Joseph R. Peterson (since 5/2009). He is supported by a city council and other elected representatives who run the city administration. The city has its own supply company, Wyandotte Municipal Services , ensures the energy supply via a city-owned power plant and offers city-owned water supply and cable television.

The city has several high schools in addition to numerous elementary and middle schools, including Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School and Roosevelt High School.

Personalities

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Wyandotte at GeoNames
  2. History of the City of Wyandotte ( English ) Archived from the original on February 3, 2007. Retrieved on January 6 of 2009.
  3. Biddle, John ( English ) Retrieved on 19 April 2009. Record John Biddle at Info Please
  4. a b America's First Bessemer Steel Mill ( English ) Retrieved April 19, 2009.
  5. The Archives & Collections ( English ) Archived from the original on January 20, 2005. Accessed April 19 of 2009.
  6. ^ Government: Mayor and City Council. ( Memento of April 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Website of the city
  7. Michelle Belaskie in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  8. Charles Hendrix in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  9. Bob Kuzava Statistics ( English ) Retrieved April 19, 2009.
  10. Valerie Meachum in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  11. Dave Preston (II) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  12. Garrett Shatzer in the Internet Movie Database (English)