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Wayne County, Michigan

Coordinates: 42°17′N 83°16′W / 42.28°N 83.26°W / 42.28; -83.26
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Wayne County
County
Official seal of Wayne County
Seal
Map of Michigan highlighting Wayne County
Location within the U.S. state of Michigan
Map of the United States highlighting Michigan
Michigan's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 42°17′N 83°16′W / 42.28°N 83.26°W / 42.28; -83.26
Country United States
State Michigan
FoundedAugust 15, 1796 [1]
SeatDetroit
Area
 • Total
672 sq mi (1,741 km2)
 • Land614 sq mi (1,591 km2)
 • Water58 sq mi (150 km2)  8.64%
Population
 (2000)
 • Total
2,061,162
 • Density3,356/sq mi (1,296/km2)
Websitewww.waynecounty.com

Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,061,162 with the July 1, 2009 estimate placing the population at 1,925,848[1] making it the 13th most-populous county in the United States. The county seat is DetroitTemplate:GR, the largest city in Michigan.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 672 square miles (1,741 km²)—614 square miles (1,591 km²) of it is land and 58 square miles (150 km²) of it (8.64%) is water (including parts of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair).

Wayne County borders on Oakland County and Macomb County to the north, Washtenaw County to the west, and Monroe County to the south.

The eastern (and sometimes southern) boundary is a water boundary in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair with Essex County, Ontario, Canada. Automotive traffic crosses this boundary at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge. Due to the change in direction of the river, this portion of Ontario actually lies south of Wayne County. Due to the direction ambiguity, the southern communities of the county are usually referred to as "Downriver".

Grosse Ile is the largest island in Wayne County and is connected to the mainland by the Wayne County Bridge and the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge.

Adjacent counties

National protected area

Transportation

Airports

Highways

 I-75
I-94
I-96
I-275
I-375
US-12
US-24
M-1
M-3
M-5
M-8
M-10
M-14
M-39
M-53
M-85
M-97
M-102
M-153

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1900348,793—
1910531,59152.4%
19201,177,645121.5%
19301,888,94660.4%
19402,015,6236.7%
19502,435,23520.8%
19602,666,2979.5%
19702,666,7510.0%
19802,337,891−12.3%
19902,111,687−9.7%
20002,061,162−2.4%
2008 (est.)1,949,929

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 2,061,162 people, 768,440 households, and 511,781 families residing in the county. The population density was 3,356 people per square mile (1,296/km²). There were 826,145 housing units at an average density of 1,345 per square mile (519/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 51.70% White, 42.16% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 1.70% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.55% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. 3.75% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

8.5% were of German, 8.0% Polish and 5.7% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 89.3% spoke English, 3.2% Spanish and 2.4% Arabic as their first language.

Three native American grouping had over 1000 people in Wayne County in 2000, including 1,015 Iroquois, including at least in theory members of all six tribes, and Chippewa or Ojibwa numbering 2,041. The Cherokee were the most numerous group of Native Americans here in Wayne County, as in most of the United States, with 4,127.[2]

There were eight groups of Asians who were identified as having over 1000 in Wayne County. Asian Indians numbered 15,856. Chinese came in second at 5879. After that comes the Filipinos, numbering 5480. There were 2478 Koreans. Bangladeshis numbered 2238. Next came Japanese numbering 2025. Hmongs numbered 1927. Pakistanis numbered 1887 and Vietnamese 1684.[2]

There were 768,440 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.70% were married couples living together, 20.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families. 28.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.00% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 30.30% from 25 to 44, 20.90% from 45 to 64, and 12.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 92.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,776, and the median income for a family was $48,805. Males had a median income of $42,392 versus $29,027 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,058. About 12.70% of families and 16.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.00% of those under age 18 and 11.30% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The historic Guardian Building in Detroit is the Wayne County headquarters.

Wayne County is Michigan's first "charter county", with a home rule charter setting up its structures within limits set in state law and constitution. Most Michigan county governments are structured according to state law, without a locally adopted charter.

The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records for all areas except Detroit, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. Most other local government functions – police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. – are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

Wayne County Elected officials

(information as of December 2009)

Politics

Presidential Election Results 1960-2008
Year Democrat Republican
2008 74.02% 660,085 24.62% 219,582
2004 69.39% 600,047 29.81% 257,750
2000 69.01% 530,414 29.02% 223,021
1996 68.95% 504,466 24.04% 175,886
1992 60.39% 508,464 26.96% 227,002
1988 60.18% 450,222 39.03% 291,996
1984 57.19% 496,632 42.31% 367,391
1980 58.60% 522,024 35.42% 315,532
1976 60.11% 548,767 38.18% 348,588
1972 53.26% 514,913 45.08% 435,877
1968 63.25% 654,157 26.16% 270,566
1964 75.97% 831,674 23.83% 260,901
1960 65.99% 773,327 33.66% 394,485

History

"Mad Anthony" Wayne

Wayne County was one of the first counties formed when the Northwest Territory was organized. It was named for the American general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. It originally encompassed the entire area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, as well as small sections that are now part of northern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. By proclamation of the Territorial Secretary and Acting Governor, Winthrop Sargent, on August 15, 1796, the boundaries of Wayne County were declared to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River then west to Fort Wayne, then to the southernmost point of Lake Michigan and along the western shore north to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior and then along the territorial boundary through Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie back to the starting point.[3]

On January 14, 1803, the Governor of Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison, issued a similar proclamation defining the boundaries as beginning at a point where an east and west line passing through the southernmost extreme of Lake Michigan would intersect a north and south line, passing through the westernmost extreme of the lake, then north to the territorial boundary, then along said boundary line to a point where an east and west line passing through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan would intersect the same, then along this last mentioned line to the place of beginning. This boundary would include Chicago, Illinois and a sizable strip of Wisconsin along Lake Michigan.[4]

These boundaries would be adjusted as Indiana and Illinois became states and as other counties were formed within Michigan Territory.

Cities, villages, and townships

The white areas represent unincorporated charter and civil townships. The gray areas represent incorporated cities and villages.

Cities

Villages

  • Grosse Pointe Shores (most, with the remainder in Macomb County; residents voted to incorporate as a city in 2008)
Canton

Townships

See also

Saginaw Trail

References

  1. ^ United States Census Bureau, County population change: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008, accessed July 6, 2009
  2. ^ a b Detailed Tables - American FactFinder
  3. ^ "Proclamation by Winthrop Sargent". Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan together with Reports of County Pioneer Societies, Vol VIII (second edition ed.). Lansing, Mich.: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford. 1907 [1886]. pp. 496–497. Retrieved 2006-10-15. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Proclamation by Governor Harrison". Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan together with Reports of County Pioneer Societies, Vol VIII (second edition ed.). Lansing, Mich.: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford. 1907 [1886]. pp. 540–542. Retrieved 2006-10-15. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)

42°17′N 83°16′W / 42.28°N 83.26°W / 42.28; -83.26

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