HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN

'Highland Park' is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 16,746 at the 2000 census. The city is completely surrounded by Detroit except a small portion that touches the city of Hamtramck, which is also surrounded by Detroit.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

History and character

Education

Famous Highland Parkers

References

External links

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.6 km² (2.9 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 16,746 people, 6,199 households, and 3,521 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,169.7/km² (5,622.9/mi²). There were 7,249 housing units at an average density of 939.2/km² (2,434.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 4.11% White (including Middle Eastern), 93.44% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population. Most of the White population is of Chaldean descent.
There were 6,199 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 17.0% were married couples living together, 33.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 38.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.43.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $17,737, and the median income for a family was $26,484. Males had a median income of $31,014 versus $26,186 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,121. About 32.1% of families and 38.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 47.1% of those under age 18 and 30.8% of those age 65 or over.

History and character

The area that was to become Highland Park started off as a small farming community, on a large ridge, six miles north of Detroit in the early 1800s. In 1818, prominent Detroit judge Augustus B. Woodward bought the ridge, and platted the village of Woodwardville in 1825. The development of the village failed. Another Detroit judge, Benjamin F.H. Witherell, son of Michigan Supreme Court justice James Witherell, attempted to found a village on this site in 1836, but this plan also failed.
By 1873, the settlement was given a post office under the name of Whitewood. After a succession of closures and reopenings of the rural post office, the settlement was finally incorporated as a village under the name of Highland Park in 1889.^[1]
Upon the completion of Highland Park Ford Plant in 1909, the area's population dramatically increased just a few years later in 1913, when Henry Ford opened the first assembly line at the Highland Park Ford Plant. The village of Highland Park was incorporated as a city in 1918 ^[2] to protect it tax base, including its successful Ford plant, from Detroit's expanding boundaries.
In 1944, the Davison Freeway, the world's first urban depressed freeway, was opened, running through the center of the city. The freeway was completely reconstructed and widened to improve its safety in 1996 to 1997.^[3]

Ford Motor Company closed the Highland Park plant in the late 1950s, and in the late decades of the 20th century the city experienced many of the same difficulties as Detroit - declines in population and tax base accompanied by an increase in street crime. White flight from the city accelerated after the 1967 Detroit 12th Street Riot. The city became heavily black and impoverished by the 1980s.
The town was thickly forested until the 1970s, when Dutch elm disease caused many old trees to be cut down.
In June of 2001, because of the city's mounting fiscal crisis, the city was appointed an emergency financial manager under the supervision of the state of Michigan.

Education

Highland Park is served by Highland Park Schools, which includes there elementary schools, one traditional high school, and adult education/vocational school.

Famous Highland Parkers

★ Tim Meadows - comedian and actor, known for being a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 2000.

★ Butch Hartman - creator of The Fairly Odd Parents and Danny Phantom on Nickelodeon.

★ Claude Harvard - inventor and educator. Though not widely known Harvard was one of the few early African-American graduates from the Henry Ford Trade School. He went on the invent the Piston Pin Inspection Machine (which he exhibited at the 1934 World Trade Fair) and have 28 other inventions patented by Ford. After retirement he was instrumental in teaching and launching the Focus Hope Machinist Training program.

★ Reggie McKenzie - NFL Football Player. Reggie McKenzie was an American football player who played guard for the Buffalo Bills from 1972 to 1982.In 2002 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and in 1994 to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

★ Bobby Joe Hill - an American basketball player, was the leading scorer of the 1965-66 Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) team, helping the Miners win the 1966 NCAA basketball championship. The victory is considered one of the most important wins in sports history — Texas Western started an all-black starting lineup, against the all-white University of Kentucky.

References

1. InfoMI.com, accessed April 18, 2007
2. City of Highland Park Official History
3. MichiganFreeways.org, accessed April 18, 2007

External links

★ Website of the City of Highland Park

★ United Block Clubs of Highland Park Online

★ Highland Park Business Association of Michigan

★ Highland Park Development Corporation