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Woodhaven
Woodhaven is a suburb in southern Wayne County. It is part of a collection of 18 suburban communities known as Downriver. The city has a total area of 6.45 square miles, of which 6.39 square miles is land and 0.06 square miles is water. The development of what is now the city's main retail area, centered on the intersection of Allen and West Roads, began with the 1971 opening of Kmart, two gas stations had already existed. By 1974, Long John Silver's and Pizza Hut had opened. A strip mall anchored by Kroger, along with a Dunkin' Donuts, had joined in by the end of the 1970s. Meijer opened in 1990, followed by Target in 1994 and Sears Hardware by the end of the 1990s. In the late 1990s, the Mobil Oil Refinery and canning site at the intersection was torn down and cleaned up. Between 2001 and 2005, it was replaced by Woodhaven Village Square, which includes Walmart, The Home Depot, Applebee's, and PetSmart.
Woodhaven remains well known as home to the Ford Stamping Plant. The Woodhaven-Brownstown School District serves most of Woodhaven. Woodhaven High School is in Brownstown Township. A portion of Woodhaven is in the Gibraltar School District.
History & Demographics
The American Industrial Revolution prompted an explosion of manufacturing in Detroit and the surrounding area - making the region a key center for trade and transportation. The eventual emergence of the automobile as the means of personal transportation only heightened this growth and prosperity - making distant regions accessible for the first time, and improving trade and commerce between Detroit and its surrounding communities. It was the beginning of an industrial legacy, and set the stage for Woodhaven's first major steps away from its rural heritage when, in the 1930s, the Mobil Oil Co. built its refinery at the corner of Allen and West roads.
From that moment, Woodhaven's future took on a life of its own. Industry brought jobs - and more people. More people brought new homes to former farmland. And the Detroit-Toledo corridor began to move west, away from the Detroit River, and into the midst of the Downriver area. In fact, by the 1960s, Woodhaven was home to the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad train links and switchyard, Buckeye Pipeline terminals - and the Ford Motor Co. Stamping Plant.
As of the census of 2010, there were 12,875 people, 5,159 households, and 3,535 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,014.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 5,508 housing units at an average density of 862.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 88.9% White, 5.3% African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.3% Asian, 1.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.5% of the population.
Related Links
Detailed Community ProfileCity Of Woodhaven Web Site Woodhaven Retail Study
Business Development Manager
Annie Mendoza, MCD
amendoza@waynecounty.com
313.224.5154
Annie supports business retention and expansion in 15 of the 18 Downriver communities of Wayne County.