Wayne County, Michigan


Wayne County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the United States census placed its population at 1,793,561, making it the 19th-most populous county in the United States. The county seat is Detroit. The county was founded in 1796 and organized in 1815. Wayne County is included in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is one of several U.S. counties named after Revolutionary War-era general Anthony Wayne.

History

Wayne County was the sixth county in the Northwest Territory, formed August 15, 1796, from portions of territorial Hamilton County, territorial Knox County and unorganized territory. It was named for the U.S. general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. It originally encompassed the entire area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, most of the Upper Peninsula, as well as smaller sections that are now part of northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. 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. The first division of the county into townships occurred November 1, 1798, into the four townships of Detroit, Hamtramck, Mackinaw, and Sargent. The extent of Wayne county at that time included all the present state of Michigan in addition to parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin, so that the townships erected at that time were vastly larger than the corresponding divisions of the present time.
Image:Guardianbuilding.jpg|thumb|The historic Guardian Building in Detroit is the Wayne County headquarters.
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.
These boundaries would be adjusted as Indiana and Illinois became states and as other counties were formed within Michigan Territory.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. Its water area includes 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, Essex County, Ontario, Canada to the east, and Monroe County to the south.
The eastern boundary is a water boundary in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair with Essex County, Ontario. Automotive traffic crosses this boundary at the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge. Due to the southwestern course of the river, this small portion of Canada actually lies to the south of Wayne County. The southern communities of the county are usually referred to as Downriver, in reference to their location downstream of downtown Detroit.
Grosse Ile is the largest island in the county and is connected to the mainland by the Wayne County Bridge and the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge. The highest elevation in the county is near Northville, in Maybury State Park.

Adjacent counties

Wayne County Department of Public Services

The Wayne County Department of Public Services was formed in 1906 as the Wayne County Road Commission. It was the government agency in Wayne County, Michigan responsible for building and maintaining the county's roads and highways.
Its first commissioners were Edward N. Hines, Cassius R. Benton, and automobile manufacturer Henry Ford. While the commission was authorized by an 80% positive vote of county voters in a 1906 referendum, it was controversial and there was a Michigan state supreme court case pressed which found it unconstitutional. Commissioners Benton and Ford quit, but commissioner Hines persisted and led the commission through reorganization getting around the obstacles. Hines was a commissioner continuously from 1906 to 1938. Hines is credited with the idea of putting a painted line down a roadway's center to divide traffic, and other innovations that were later widely adopted.
The commission claims credit for constructing the country's first mile of concrete-paved rural highway, a section of Woodward Avenue just outside the Detroit city limits.
A number of the county road commissions' works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The county road commission was merged into the general county government, becoming the Roads Division of the Department of Public Services.

Transit

  • Detroit station is located in the New Center neighborhood and serves the Amtrak Wolverine intercity trains.
  • The Detroit Bus Station is located in the Corktown neighborhood and serves intercity buses to destinations across the Midwest.
  • The Detroit Department of Transportation and Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation provide local and regional bus service.
  • The QLine operates streetcar service down Woodward Avenue.

    Major highways

  • through the Downriver communities, then through the southwest-side neighborhoods of Detroit and serves as the northern border of Downtown Detroit as the Fisher Freeway. It then turns away from the Fisher onto the Chrysler Freeway at a complex interchange with I-375 and an unnumbered extension which connects with M-3, then follows M-1, which is less than a mile away through the remainder of Detroit, connecting eastern Wayne County to Toledo and Flint to the south and north respectively. It runs non-stop to the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge to the north and to Florida to the south.
  • runs east–west through the central parts of Wayne County, connecting it to Port Huron eastbound and Chicago westbound. To the west it provides an uninterrupted route as far as Montana and connects to the northern side of the Detroit Metro Airport. In Detroit it is known as the Edsel Ford Freeway.
  • has its eastern terminus in the county, in Detroit. It follows Grand River Avenue until the city's northwest side, there it turns due west to I-275, where it turns north to concurrent with I-275. West of Detroit to I-275 it is known as the Jeffries Freeway; in Detroit it is the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway, but it is sometimes still known as the Jeffries.
  • , most of whose mileage is in Wayne County, serves the southern side of the Detroit Metro Airport.
  • is the nation's shortest Interstate Highway to be signed. However some highways are shorter but are not signed at all. It serves as the eastern boundary of Downtown Detroit and is a southern extension of the Chrysler Freeway. There are currently plans in the works to turn I-375 into a 6-lane boulevard. Construction will start in 2025 and is expected to finish by 2028.
  • has its eastern terminus in Downtown Detroit at Cass Avenue. From there it travels through the west side of Detroit and through Dearborn and other points west and is a useful alternative to I-94. US 12 continues west through Michigan, passing through several US cities including Chicago and Minneapolis, eventually ending in the Pacific Northwest in Aberdeen, Washington. Locally it is known as Michigan Avenue.
  • traverses through Downriver and the far west sides of Dearborn and Detroit and is a useful alternative to I-75. Locally it is known as Telegraph Road.
  • entered the county by two ways. Initially it was via Woodward Avenue but when the Lodge Freeway was completed U.S. Route 10 was relocated onto it; the Woodward route became M-1. Later the existing highway was truncated in Bay City and M-10 replaced it on the Lodge.
  • entered Wayne County on Grand River Avenue and ended in Downtown Detroit.
  • was the designated name for Dix-Toledo Highway in Downriver and Fort Street and Gratiot Avenue in Detroit. The construction of I-75 resulted in the truncation of U.S. Route 25 to Cincinnati.
  • followed Michigan Avenue out of Downtown Detroit and out of Wayne County. Is now a routing of U.S. Route 12.
  • has its southern terminus in Downtown Detroit at Adams Street. It travels through Midtown Detroit and New Center and through Highland Park. It serves as an alternative to I-75 and M-10. Locally known as Woodward Avenue. M-1 was a result of US-10 being redesignated to the Lodge Freeway.
  • has its southern terminus in Downtown Detroit at Randolph and Jefferson Avenue. It proceeds northeasterly through Detroit's northeast side and beyond towards Mount Clemens and points further north. Locally known as Gratiot Avenue. M-3 was the result of the removal of US-25 from Michigan.
  • begins at the northern intersection with I-96 on Detroit's northwest side and follows Grand River Avenue out of the county.
  • runs from I-96 to Conant Street in Detroit, passing through Highland Park. The freeway portion is known as the Davison Freeway.
  • starts at the same intersection where M-3 starts in Downtown Detroit and travels further into the city on the Lodge Freeway and connects it to Southfield.
  • starts at the interchange with I-96 and I-275 in Livonia and travels out into rural areas, serving Plymouth and Ann Arbor.
  • starts in Lincoln Park's city center and runs along Southfield Road to Allen Park and becomes the Southfield Freeway, traveling through the west side of Detroit.
  • begins at M-3 in Detroit, running through the city and connecting it to the Thumb area of the state. Locally known as Van Dyke Avenue.
  • , which is entirely in Wayne County, starts at Griswold Street in Downtown Detroit and connects the city's southwest side to Downriver, ending near Flat Rock at I-75, for whom which M-85 serves as an alternative. Locally known as West Fort and South Fort, divided at the River Rouge.
  • only runs a short distance through Detroit's northeast side, starting at M-3. In the city it follows Gunston Street and Hoover Street.
  • follows the county line between M-5 and I-94. Locally known as West 8 Mile and East 8 Mile, divided at John R. Street.
  • starts at Wyoming Street on the Detroit-Dearborn limit and continues through the western suburbs as Ford Road.
  • became part of US 16, which is also removed from Michigan.
  • once followed Ecorse Road into Lincoln Park, then ran concurrently with U.S. Route 25 to Downtown Detroit.
  • connected US 24 in Monroe to Flat Rock; it once connected to US 112 in Canton along Huron River Drive and Belleville Road.
  • entered Wayne County during World War II, and the years following, on an expressway, providing access to the Willow Run Airport in Van Buren Township and turned onto present-day Interstate 94 in Romulus Township. In Taylor Township it had interchanges with both M-17 and US 24, then ended at US 112 in Dearborn.
  • Dixie Highway ran through Wayne County as early as 1915. Back then it was one of the only routes that connected the county to the Southern United States. Today there are no traces of the old highway in the county.