Wyandotte Michigan MI Warrant Search

Wyandotte, Michigan Wyandotte is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 28,006 at the 2000 census. The population percent change from 1990 to 2000 was -9.0%, showing a slightly decreasing population. Wyandotte is located in the southeastern lower peninsula, approximately eleven miles south of Detroit on the Detroit River and is part of the collection of communities known as Downriver. Wyandotte is bounded by Southgate (west), Lincoln Park (northwest), Riverview (south) and Ecorse (north).Wyandotte is a sister city to Komaki, Japan, and each year delegates from Komaki come to Wyandotte to tour the city.It is not to be confused with Wyandott, a minuscule suburb of Twin Lakes, Michigan. History Incorporated as a city in 1867, the site where Wyandotte sits today in the 18th century was a village for the Native American tribe known as the Wyandot or Wendat, part of the Huron nation. It was from here in 1763 that Chief Pontiac plotted his attack on Detroit. The center of the village was near modern-day Eureka Avenue and Oak Street. However, this description of location is questionable in that modern-day Eureka and Oak run parallel to each other. It is more probable that the location may have been BETWEEN modern-day Eureka and Oak along the main road near the Detroit River which is Biddle Avenue (see detailed reference to Biddle Avenue below).In 1818, the Wyandot signed a treaty with the U.S. government relinquishing this land, moving to an area near Flat Rock, Michigan, then to Ohio, Kansas and finally Oklahoma. The name somewhat lives on as Wyandotte County, Kansas.One of the first white settlers to come to Wyandotte in the years after the Native Americans left was John Biddle, a Pennsylvania-born former Army Major who fought in the War of 1812 (and later went on to a prolific political career, serving as mayor of Detroit, delegate from the Territory of Michigan in the U.S. Congress, president of the Michigan Central Railroad, member and later speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and one-time candidate for Michigan Governor . (West Jefferson Boulevard, which runs from downtown Detroit south to Monroe County is named renamed Biddle Avenue within Wyandotte city limits.)Biddle purchased a 2,200-acre (8.9 km2) plot near modern Biddle Avenue and Vinewood Avenue in 1835 and created a farm he called 'The Wyandotte.' He sold the plot in 1854 to Eber Ward of the Eureka Iron Co. for $44,000. In 1864, he took iron ore from Upper Peninsula and smelted it into iron in huge furnaces which came to be known as Bessemer steel mills, the first in the nation. In 1865, the process created steel rails and allowed an explosion of iron-related businesses to open in the region. As a result, Detroit soon became a major center of iron production, especially for use in stoves (Wyandotte was home to several companies as well, including the Regeant Stove Co.) It would be this technology that would give Henry Ford from nearby Dearborn the capabilities to create large amounts of steel for his automobile assembly lines.A Eureka representative named John Van Alstyne laid out a master plan for the city in the late 1850s. In 1867, Wyandotte became a city, with Van Alstyne as mayor (a street along Wyandotte's Detroit River is named after him).Eureka Iron Works prospered through the late 19th century, but suffered a shortage of raw materials. It closed in 1892, but not before Wyandotte became a major hub in the chemical production industry, possible because of the many salt mines deep below the city. Business and industry An early figure was Captain John Baptiste Ford, who used the salt to create soda ash, which in turn was used to create plate glass. In 1893, he created Michigan Alkali Company, which created baking soda, soda ash and lye. The company, later renamed Wyandotte Chemicals Co., went on to create a variety of soaps and cleaners, and eventually became part of BASF and expanded into the BASF industrial complex.Ward also help create Wyandotte's shipbuilding role, which existed from the 1870s into the 1920s. During that time, a wide variety of boats were created along Wyandotte's riverbank, from steamers and tugs to huge ferries. In 1873, Ward's Wyandotte Iron Ship Building Works built the nation's earliest steel-hulled vessel, a tug called the Sport.Beginning in the 1920s Wyandotte was a major source of toy production, with the All Metal Products Company founded in 1920 and located in Wyandotte on Sycamore St. between 14th and 15th St. From the 1920s until the 1950s the company, under the name 'Wyandotte Toys', was the nation's largest manufacturer of toy guns and pistols, producing a wide variety of pop guns, clicker pistols, dart guns, cap guns and a variety of plastic pistols. The company also produced a wide range of toy airplanes and other vehicles by pressing scrap metal obtained from local automobile factories. The company's motto was 'Wyandotte Toys Are Good and Safe.' In the early 1950s the company moved to Ohio, and was bought out by Louis Marx and Company three years later.Wyandotte's Bishop Park used to have a dock to board the Boblo Boat ferry to Boblo Island.Today, much of the industry has disappeared. A notable exception is BASF Wyandotte.In July 2001, three workers at an Atofina plant just south of Wyandotte were killed when a rail car leaked a colorless gas called methyl mercaptan. The gas exploded into flames and led to the emergency evacuation of 2,000 area residents, including some Wyandotte citizens. Government and municipal services Joe Peterson is the current mayor of Wyandotte as of 2008. A City Council and other elected officials oversee the community's governance. Wyandotte has its own community owned municipal services, called Wyandotte Municipal Services, it provides its own power through a municipal power plant and operates city-owned water and cable television services.The Wyandotte Police Department, like that of its fellow Downriver community Woodhaven, has a Police Explorers post for youths ages 14–21 that have interest in law enforcement. Public schools Wyandotte Public Schools operates public schoolsElementary and middle schools include:Garfield Elementary School James Monroe Elementary School William Taft Elementary School (No longer in use) George Washington Elementary School Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Woodrow Wilson Middle School Wyandotte's public high school is Theodore Roosevelt High School. Private schools Private schools in Wyandotte include:Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School (9 - 12 Grades) Our Lady of Mount Carmel Elementary School (Preschool - 8 Grades) Wyandotte Catholic Consolidated Elementary School (K-8) Historic sites Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church is a Roman-Catholic Church built in the Polish Cathedral style known for its Old World opulence. Founded in 1899 by Polish immigrants, it is also home to a full Catholic Pre-School, Elementary and High School. Street grid Most north-south streets are numbered, starting with 1st Street on the East Side and ending with 23rd Street on the West Side. Most east-west streets south of Northline/Ford Avenue are named after trees such as Walnut, Oak, and Cherry starting with Spruce Street on the north and ending with Grove Street on the south. South of Grove, the east-west streets are named after Michigan cities, with Hillsdale, Marshall, Vassar, Ludington, Neguanee and St. Ignace Streets. The city has an East Side and a West Side, separated by the Canadian National Railway's (Grand Trunk Western) Shoreline and River subdivisions and the Norfolk Southern Railway/Conrail Shared Assets's Detroit Line. NS/Conrail also has a spur line which paraells Alkali Street and serves BASF. Most of the numbered streets are at some point one way. One of the streets is a continuation of a street that starts in southwest Detroit, Electric Street, which continues into Riverview.Most of the Wyandotte-Southgate city limits is straddled by M-85 (Michigan highway) which locally is known as Fort Street. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.0 square miles (18.1 km²), of which, 5.3 square miles (13.8 km²) of it is land and 1.7 square miles (4.3 km²) of it (23.82%) is water. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 28,006 people, 11,816 households, and 7,420 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,278.1 per square mile (2,036.4/km²). There were 12,303 housing units at an average density of 2,318.7/sq mi (894.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.32% White, 0.52% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.72% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.91% of the population. Residents are predominantly of Polish descent.There were 11,816 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.99.In the city the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.5 males.The median income for a household in the city was $43,740, and the median income for a family was $54,106. Males had a median income of $42,469 versus $27,261 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,185. About 4.7% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.Ancestries: Polish (22.5%), German (21.9%), Irish (17.5%), English (9.0%), French (8.5%), Italian (8.4%). Religion Most of the population of Wyandotte is Christian, and of these denominations, Roman Catholicism possesses the largest presence.One of the city's Roman Catholic parishes is Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the city's Polish Cathedral. A figure of Pope John Paul II stands in front of the church. It was sculpted by Professor Czesław Dźwigaj, well known for also casting the monument of Christ the King in Cicero, Illinois in front of the church of St. Mary of Częstochowa as well as the Tolerance Monument that was recently unveiled in Jerusalem.Wyandotte is also the seat of the Mariavite Old Catholic Church - Province of North America, presently under the direction of Archbishop Robert R. Zaborowski. Notable natives and residents Lucille Ball, actress who was raised in the city as a child Aaron Diaz, science popularizer and creator of the comicDresden Codak Bob Kuzava, baseball pitcher Lee Majors, actor most noted asThe Six Million Dollar Man Thomas McGuane, novelist known for such works asNinety-Two in the Shadeand husband of actressMargot Kidder Louis A. Waldman, art historian specializing in the Italian Renaissance Dave Preston, actor and production designer Justin Hicks, golfer who currently plays on theNationwide Tour Fritz Shurmur, an American football coach Budd Lynch, is the Detroit Red Wings' public address announcer at Joe Louis Arena