Lincoln Park, Michigan

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Lincoln Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 44,008 at the 2000 census. The area was founded as a village in 1921 and reorganized as a city in 1925. The area was originally home to the Potawatomi Indians who ceded the land to a French settler, Pierre St. Cosme in 1776. The area developed as a bedroom community providing homes to workers in the nearby steel mills and automobile plants of the Detroit area while having no industry within its bounds.

The town has an extensive school system, primarily serving its 9,700 people under the age of 18. This system includes Lincoln Park High School, Lincoln Park Middle School, as well as eight different elementary schools.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.2 km² (5.8 mi²), all land. The north and south branches of the Ecorse River run through Lincoln Park and join just before leaving the city.

Lincoln Park borders the cities of Detroit, Allen Park, Melvindale, Ecorse, Wyandotte and Southgate.

[edit] History

Pontiac's council

Before Lincoln Park was incorporated as a city, an area in its eastern region adjacent to Ecorse River served as a staging point for the combined Native American forces under the command of Ottawa Chief Pontiac, who led his warriors on an attempted attack on Fort Detroit during Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763. He was known to have given a rousing speech to inspire his followers (excerpt follows). Today, one can visit the area and find a small, modest engraved boulder that marks the occasion.

It is important for us, my brothers, that we exterminate from our lands this nation which seeks only to destroy us. You see as well as I that we can no longer supply our needs, as we have done from our brothers, the French. [...] From all this you can see well that they are seeking our ruin. Therefore, my brothers, we must all swear their destruction and wait no longer. Nothing prevents us; they are few in numbers, and we can accomplish it.

Chief Pontiac, Fort Detroit, 1763

Later, during the 20th century, Lincoln Park grew as a bedroom community for the numerous workers at Henry Ford's River Rouge Plant and other mills and factories of the auto industry.

Among Lincoln Park's minor claims to fame is that it was the home of the members of the seminal punk rock group MC5 in the 1960s. The band was rumored to have evolved out of the group's habit of listening to music from a car radio in the parking lot of the local White Castle restaurant in the small downtown area.

The auto magnate Preston Tucker joined the Lincoln Park Police Department in his early years to gain access to the high performance cars the department used.

Lincoln Park gained brief notoriety in 1999 when the high school's principal enacted a new dress code intended to keep out gang symbology and colors. However, included among the prohibited paraphernalia were any items related to the "pagan" or "goth" lifestyle/fashion sense, including most notably, representations of the pentagram. The decision sparked animosity between the administration and the students and teachers, who generally saw it as an excessive measure given gang activity in the school had been largely eliminated in the late 1980s. This animosity culminated in legal action against the school initiated by the ACLU, on behalf of a student who self-identified as a practicing pagan. Under mounting pressure from the courts and media, the administration formally made an exception in the policy for practicing witches, though informally it dropped the matter. As of September 2006, the same school board has since again made another attempt, going so far as to ban clothing with any writing.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 40,008 people, 16,204 households, and 10,581 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,640.5/km² (6,834.9/mi²). There were 16,821 housing units at an average density of 1,110.2/km² (2,873.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.26% White, 2.06% African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 1.82% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.39% of the population.

There were 16,204 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,515, and the median income for a family was $49,747. Males had a median income of $40,197 versus $26,549 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,140. About 6.1% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.