Current area population: 365,601
Area defined as the unofficial name for a collection of 18 suburban cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit along the western shore of the Detroit River. The name derives from the fact that the Detroit River, after running more or less west along the banks of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, then bends to flow largely south before emptying into Lake Erie. Communities to the south of the city can thus be accessed by traveling downriver (as opposed to upriver) along the waterway.
Cities and Townships Downriver
| CITY | FOUNDED | MAYOR | POPULATION | SOCIETY |
| Allen Park | 1957 | Gail McLeod | 27,528 | 15504 Englewood |
| Brownstown Twp. | 1827 | Sherry Berecz (Supervisor) | 33,194 | 23451 King Rd. |
| Ecorse | 1941 | Lamar Tidwell | 9,305 | 3869 W. Jefferson |
| Flat Rock | 1965 | Steve Beller | 10,541 | 25484 Gibraltar Rd. |
| Gibraltar | 1961 | Garrett Shumate | 4,997 | 29450 Munroe |
| Grosse Ile Twp. | 1776 | Joe Porcarelli (Supervisor) | 10,788 | 25020 East River Rd. |
| Huron Twp. | 1827 | Bill Haas (Supervisor) | 16,944 | Information forthcoming |
| Lincoln Park | 1925 | Maureen Cole Tobin | 40,245 | 1335 Southfield Rd. |
| Melvindale | 1933 | Nicole Shkira | 12,851 | Information forthcoming |
| River Rouge | 1922 | William Campbell | 7,224 | 10750 West Jefferson Ave. |
| Riverview | 1959 | Andrew Swift | 12,490 | Information forthcoming |
| Rockwood | 1861 | Troy Cox | 3,240 | 32787 Wood St. |
| Romulus | 1970 | Robert McCraight | 25,178 | 11120 Hunt St. |
| Southgate | 1958 | Joseph Kuspa | 30,014 | 14120 Dix Hwy. |
| Taylor | 1968 | Tim Woolley | 63,409 | Heritage Park |
| Trenton | 1957 | Steven Rzeppa | 18,544 | 306 St. Joseph St. |
| Woodhaven | 1965 | Patricia Odette | 12,941 | Information forthcoming |
| Wyandotte | 1867 | Robert DeSana | 25,058 | 2624 Biddle Ave. |
If you have updated community information or additional insight into historical archive locations, please contact us.
Characteristics
Those communities situated closer to Detroit (Allen Park, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, River Rouge and Wyandotte) were first developed in the 1920s-1940s. The majority of households in this area can be identified by brick and mortar homes (often bungalows), tree-lined streets and Works Progress Administration-designed municipal buildings.
Communities that developed further south (Riverview, Southgate, Taylor, Trenton) in the 1950s-1970s are more closely identified as tract homes and subdivisions.
Through the 1980s, areas such as Huron Township, Flat Rock, Rockwood, Woodhaven and Romulus were undeveloped, some of which still have operating farms. Socially speaking, the Downriver communities collectively have a distinct cultural identity within suburban Detroit although some individual Downriver communities share many similarities with towns in the western, northern and eastern suburbs of Detroit.
Notable Downriver Alumni
| STEVE AVERY Former MLB pitcher | JOE C. Rapper & Hip-Hop personality | LLOYD CARR Former U of M football coach |
| ARCHIE CLARK Former NBA guard | MAX GAIL Actor on “Barney Miller” | BOB GUINEY “The Bachelorette” |
| CHARLEY LAU Former MLB hitting instructor | BUDD LYNCH Former Red Wings announcer | LEE MAJORS Actor |
| KEVIN NASH Professional wrestler | BOB SEGER Legendary musician | TOM TRESH Former MLB pitcher |
| ROB TYNER Lead singer, The MC5 | JOHN VARVATOS Inventor of the boxer brief | CAMERON WATERMAN Inventor of the outboard motor |
A complete listing of native Downriver residents can be found on Wikipedia.
downriverhistory.blog 