Dearborn, a city in Wayne County, Michigan, is an inner-ring suburb of Detroit, located roughly 7 miles west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 census, Dearborn had a population of 109,976, making it the seventh-most
populous city in Michigan. The city is renowned as the hometown of the Ford Motor Company and its founder, Henry Ford. Dearborn's history is deeply intertwined with the automotive industry, which has played a significant role in its development.
First Peoples & First Mentions
Before European encounter, the area now known as Dearborn was inhabited for thousands of years by successive First Nations peoples. Historical tribes belonged mostly to the Algonquian-language family, including the Potawatomi and related peoples. The Huron, or Wyandot, were Iroquoian speaking. French colonists established a trading post at Fort Detroit, and a settlement developed there during the colonial period.
Explorers, Missions & Colonial Outposts
The first written settlement of Dearborn dates back to the 18th century when French Canadian voyageurs initially called the settlement La Belle Fontaine or Place aux Fontaines due to the abundant springs in the city. The settlement was connected to the Detroit River ribbon farm communities and other farms linked to the Rouge River and the Sauk Trail. The community grew in the 19th century with the establishment of the Detroit Arsenal on the Chicago Road linking Detroit and Chicago.
From Empire to Nation: Transfers of Rule
In 1763, France ceded all of its territory east of the Mississippi River in North America to Great Britain after losing the Seven Years' War. Beginning in 1786, after the United States gained independence in the American Revolutionary War, more European Americans settled in Detroit and the Dearborn area. Dearborn Township was formed in 1833, and the village of Dearbornville in 1836, each named after Henry Dearborn, a general in the American Revolution.
Rails, Roads & River Landings: Corridors That Sited Dearborn
Stimulated by industrial development in Detroit and within its own limits, Dearborn was established as a city in 1927. Its current borders result from a 1928 consolidation vote that merged Dearborn and neighboring Fordson, previously known as Springwells, which feared being absorbed into expanding Detroit. The area between Dearborn and Fordson was largely undeveloped, and much of this property was bought by Henry Ford for his estate, Fair Lane, and for the Ford Motor Company World Headquarters.
