Warren Township, Macomb County, Michigan

Warren Township is a former civil township of Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the township became the city of Warren.

For the township located in Midland County, see Warren Township, Michigan. For other uses, see Warren Township (disambiguation).

History

The survey township forming the basis of the civil township, Township 1 North, Range 13 East, was initially part of Clinton Township (which was originally known as "Huron Township"). By an act of the Michigan Legislature on March 11, 1835, the townships of Hickory and Orange were set off from Clinton. Hickory then consisted survey township 1N13E, with the exception of the eastern row of sections, which were made part of Orange Township (later named Erin Township and that later became the cities of East Detroit, Roseville, Fraser, and St. Clair Shores. On April 2, 1838, the township name was changed from Hickory to "Aba" (sometimes misspelled "Alba") and was increased by the additions of sections 1 and 12. On March 26, 1839, the name was changed to "Warren". [1] [2] [3] [4] It was named "Warren" after General Joseph Warren, who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War. [5]

The community that later became the Village of Warren, began to be settled about 1830, before the formation of Warren Township. It was at first known as "Beebe's Corners" after John L. Beebe, who operated the toll gate on the plank road that led to Detroit. [6] [7] [8] The first landowner known to actually settle in the area is Charles Groesbeck in about 1830. He was soon joined by his brother Louis (the father of Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck) and Charles Rivard. [9] A strap iron railroad, one of the first of its kind in Michigan, connected the settlement with Utica to the north and with Detroit to the south.[6] The settlement was situated on the line between sections 4 and 5, at the junction of what are now known as Chicago Road and Mound Road. [10] [11] [12]

Warren incorporated as a village in 1893.[5] Another settlement grew a few miles to the south of the village of Warren. This settlement incorporated as the village of Center Line in 1925. Center Line became a city in 1936 and was no longer part of Warren Township. On October 27, 1956, Governor G. Mennen Williams signed the charter that incorporated the remainder of the township, including the village of Warren, as the city of Warren. The city of Warren began operations on January 1, 1957.[7]

In 1920 Warren Township had a population of 3,564. Its population had risen to 14,269 by 1930. In 1935 Center Line, Michigan was incorporated as a city and detached from Warren Township. Despite this loss of area, Warren Township had a population of 22,126 in 1940.[13]

In 1950 Warren Township had a population of 42,653.[14] The part of Warren Township south of a line starting at the corner of Dequindre Road and Stephens running east on Stephens to Warner Street, south of Warner to Morrisey Street east on Morrissey to Ryan, north on Ryan to Eleven Mile, East on Eleven Mile essentially to the Center Line City line, then picking up again at the Railroad tracks and going north to Twelve Mile, then West to Mound, then following Mound to the boundaries of Warren, Michigan, then following the boundary of the Beverly Hills Golf Course (part of where the General Motors Technical Center is today) back to the rail tracks then going south on the railroad tracks back to 12 Mile Road (thus making the area of Warren Village connected to the rest of the Detroit Urban area only by katty-corner connection) then following 12 mile east to Van Dyke, Van Dyke south to Center Line, but incorporating a small area on the east side of Van Dyke. The northern boundary of urbanized Warren picked up again at 10 mile road and went east along ten mile with some variations of no more than a half-mile to the north or south to what was then the East Detroit City line.[15]

Communities
  • Base Line was a one-square mile area along the southern edge of the township. It was named after Base Line Road, an old name for 8 Mile Road. The area was platted in 1860 and received a post office in 1927.[16]

Notes
  1. Leeson, Chapter 38 Warren Township, pp. 852-857
  2. Eldridge, Chapter 6 Organization and Political Divisions of the County, pp. 581-586
  3. Eldridge, Chapter 13 Township of Warren, pp. 635-639
  4. Stewart, Warren Township, p. X
  5. Romig, s.v. "Warren". p. 582
  6. Village of Warren, Michigan Historical Markers, accessed 2007-11-11
  7. A Guide to Warren's History, City of Warren Historic District Commission, accessed 2007-11-11
  8. However, Romig (s.v. "Richmond", p. 475) locates Beebe's Corners in the city of Richmond, Michigan, named after Erastus Beebe.
  9. History of Warren, Warren Historical & Genealogical Society, accessed 2007-11-11
  10. Stewart, Map of Warren Township, circa 1875, p. 16
  11. Geo. A. Ogle & Co., Map of Warren Township, circa 1895, p. 37
  12. Geo. A. Ogle & Co., Plat map of the Village of Warren, circa 1895, pp. 48-49
  13. Truesdell, Leon E., ed. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940. Population. Vol. 1: Number of Inhabitants. (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1942) p. 509
  14. 1950 Census. Population Vol. 1: Number of Inhabitants. p. 22-18
  15. 1950 Census. Population Vol. 1. p. 22-27 and 22-30.
  16. Walter Romig. Michigan Place Names. (Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig, not dated) p. 45

References
  • Brown, Mason L. (2005) [19--?]. "Map showing location of post offices and distances from Detroit". Wayne County and part of Oakland and Macomb. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. pp. Unnumbered page. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  • Eldredge, Robert F (2005) [1905]. Past and present of Macomb County, Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  • Geo. A. Ogle & Co. (2005) [1895]. Standard atlas of Macomb County, Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  • Leeson, Michael A. (2005) [1882]. History of Macomb County, Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  • Romig, Walter (1986) [1973]. Michigan Place Names. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1838-X.
  • Stewart, D. J. (2005) [1875]. Combination atlas map of Macomb County, Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2007-11-11.

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