Early
Oakland
County
The County of Oakland has one of the most interesting histories in the
state of
Michigan
...
Prior to the first
permanent settlers, Native Americans (of many different tribes, Ojibwa,
Chippewa,
Ottawa
, Potawatomi) roamed along the
Saginaw Trail and camped at Saginaw Plains,
Apple
Island
and various other beautiful spots. Much of the original settlement of the
county was around three major native American trails; Saginaw Trail - much is
now
Woodward Avenue
,
Shiawassee Trail - followed the current
Orchard Lake Road
and Grand River Trail.
The
United States
acquired
the area now known as
Oakland
County
, from
France
,
in 1803, as part of a 800,000 square mile agreement, and the area was given the
name "
Old Northwest
". The
Territory
of
Michigan
was formed by Congress on June
30th 1805, with statehood on January 26, 1837.
Despite Oakland
County's official description in 1816 as having "extreme sterility and
barrenness", on November 5, 1818, the Pontiac Company was organized by a
group of Detroit and Macomb County men for the purpose of purchasing land and
laying a town. In the fall of that same year, an exploring party of prominent
professional and business men from
Detroit
came
up the Saginaw Trail on horseback and camped the first night in what is now
Royal Oak
. These men
named most of the lakes in what are now
Bloomfield
and
West
Bloomfield
Townships
.
Their published report of the exploration did much to correct the false
information of the 1816 description.
Oakland
County
was officially organized
on January 12, 1819. Governor Cass issued a proclamation that laid out the
boundaries of the county. The Pontiac Company offered to contribute both
property and money if the county seat was established in
Pontiac
. The county was divided into two
townships on June 28, 1820 (by another proclamation). The northern section was
proclaimed
Oakland
Township
, the southern section was named
Bloomfield
Township
. Subsequently, on April 27,
1827, the legislative council of the
Territory
of
Michigan
divided
Oakland
County
into five townships:
Farmington
,
Bloomfield
,
Troy
,
Oakland
, and
Pontiac
.
In 1820 Governor Cass set the county seat in
Pontiac
--a central location no more than a
day's journey from any point in the county.
The first official
census of the county was taken in 1820, and the final count was 330 persons.
Within 10 years the population grew to 4,911. By 1840 it was 23,646, and by
1870 it had reached 40,867, being surpassed only by
Wayne
,
Kent
, Lenawee and
Washtenaw
Counties
, in that order. The 1990 U.S. Census reports 1,083,592
persons living in Oakland County, with the current estimated from 2000 census
data at 1,162,098,
which is the highest population for counties in the state.
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