GEOGRAPHICS:

PARTICULARS:

Population   356,448
Downriver is the unofficial name for a collection of 18 suburban cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit along the western shore of the Detroit River.

The name derives from the fact that the Detroit River, after running more or less west along the banks of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, then bends to flow largely south before emptying into Lake Erie. Communities to the south of the city can thus be accessed by traveling downriver (as opposed to upriver) along the waterway.

CHARACTERISTICS:

Those communities situated closer to Detroit (Allen Park, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, River Rouge and Wyandotte) were first developed in the 1920s-1940s.  The majority of households in this area can be identified by brick and mortar homes (often bungalows), tree-lined streets and Works Progress Administration-designed municipal buildings.

Communities that developed further south (Riverview, Southgate, Taylor, Trenton) in the 1950s-1970s are more closely identified as tract homes and subdivisions.

Through the 1980s, areas such as Huron Township, Flat Rock, Rockwood, Woodhaven and Romulus were undeveloped, some of which still have operating farms. Socially speaking, the Downriver communities collectively have a distinct cultural identity within suburban Detroit although some individual Downriver communities share many similarities with towns in the western, northern and eastern suburbs of Detroit.

NOTABLE DOWNRIVER ALUMNI

Click on the link to bring up their Wikipedia entry (where applicable)
POPULATION: 28,210
MAYOR: Gail McLeod
NAME ORIGIN:
After early city settler Louis Allen, who cut the original path which would become Allen Rd.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 15504 Englewood, Allen Park
Sharon Broglin (313) 383-2453
POPULATION: 30,627
SUPERVISOR: Andrew Linko
NAME ORIGIN:
Adam Brown was captured here by the Wyandot Indian Tribe at age 8, and later led the tribe's Deer Clan.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 23451 King, Brownstown
Louella Machinski
POPULATION: 9,512
MAYOR: Lamar Tidwell
NAME ORIGIN:
Formerly named "River Aux Echorches", which means "River of the Barks."
HISTORICAL COLLECTION:
3869 W. Jefferson, Ecorse
POPULATION: 9,878
MAYOR: Mark A. Hammond
NAME ORIGIN:
Area settler Fr. Jean Dilhet wrote of "Grosse Roche"; flat limestone sediment on the Huron River.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION:
25484 Gibraltar, Flat Rock
POPULATION: 4,656
MAYOR: Jim Gorris
NAME ORIGIN: After a British Overseas Territory located at the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 29450 Munro, Gibraltar 
(Inside Municipal Complex)  (734) 676-3900
POPULATION: 10,371
SUPERVISOR: James C. Budny
NAME ORIGIN: The Potawatomi Indians called the island Kitcheminishen (Big Island).

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 25020 East River, Grosse Ile (Former Train Depot) (734) 675-1250
POPULATION: 15,879
SUPERVISOR: David Glaab
NAME ORIGIN: Named for the Huron River as part of the initial 1827 survey of Wayne County.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION:
Information forthcoming.
POPULATION: 38,144
MAYOR: Thomas Karnes
NAME ORIGIN: One of two Downriver cities named after former presidents (Abraham Lincoln).

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 1335 Southfield, Lincoln Park
Jeff Day (313) 386-3137
POPULATION: 10,715
MAYOR: Wheeler T. Marsee Jr.
NAME ORIGIN: After Melvin Wilkinson, developer of one of the city's first neighborhoods supporting factory workers.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION:
Information forthcoming.
POPULATION: 7,903
MAYOR: Michael D. Bowdler
NAME ORIGIN: After the Rouge River to the city's north end, French translation for "Red River"

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 10750 W. Jefferson, River Rouge
(313) 842-4200 (mayor's office)
POPULATION: 12,486
MAYOR: Andrew Swift
NAME ORIGIN: For its view of the Detroit River. A portion was once called Wyandotte Heights.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION:
Information forthcoming.
POPULATION: 3,289
MAYOR: Gary Guzzi
NAME ORIGIN: Old Huron Station renamed by settler John Strong for his native city in Ontario.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 32787 Wood, Rockwood
(734) 379-0674
POPULATION: 23,989
MAYOR: LeRoy Burcroff
NAME ORIGIN: After Romulus, New York, possibly on the heels of settlor Samuel McMath, who arrived from there.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 11120 Hunt, Romulus
Pearl Varner
POPULATION: 30,047
MAYOR: Joseph Kuspa
NAME ORIGIN: The area was seen as the south gate to the Metropolitan Detroit area.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 14120 Dix-Toledo, Southgate
Jerry Pesci (734) 258-7430
POPULATION: 63,131
MAYOR: Rick Sollars
NAME ORIGIN: War hero Zachary Taylor, who became President after Taylor Township was formed.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 23555 Goddard, Taylor
(Inside Municipal Complex)  (734) 374-8775
POPULATION: 18,853
MAYOR: Steven Rzeppa
NAME ORIGIN: Trenton was the territory's third name, after the name of a limestone ridge nearby.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION: 306 St. Joseph, Trenton
(734) 675-2130
POPULATION: 12,875
MAYOR: Patricia Odette
NAME ORIGIN: After a village in the borough of Queens, New York City, New York.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION:
Information forthcoming.
POPULATION: 25,883
MAYOR: Robert A. DeSana
NAME ORIGIN: After the Wyandot Indians who settled here sometime in the 1700s.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION:  2624 Biddle, Wyandotte
If you have updated community information or additional insight into historical archive locations,
please contact us.