The first written settlement of Dearborn is from the 18th century byFrench Canadianvoyageurs who initially called the settlement La Belle Fontaine or Place aux Fontaines because of the abundantsprings in the city. Therefore, Dearborn was once named Springwells, ananglicization of the French name.[4] The settlement was connected to the Detroit Riverribbon farm communities and other farms connected to theRouge River and theSauk Trail. The community grew in the 19th century with the establishment of theDetroit Arsenal on theChicago Road linkingDetroit andChicago. During the 20th century, it developed as a major manufacturing hub for the automotive industry.
Henry Ford was born on a farm that was once at the intersection of Ford Road and Greenfield Road. Ford later built his estate,Fair Lane, and hisRiver Rouge Complex, the largest factory of his empire, in Dearborn. He developed mass production of automobiles, and based theworld headquarters of the Ford Motor Company here. The city has a campus of theUniversity of Michigan, andHenry Ford College.The Henry Ford is the largest indoor-outdoor historic museum complex in the United States, andMetro Detroit's leading tourist attraction.[5][6]
Dearborn residents are Americans primarily of European or Middle Eastern ancestry, many descendants of 19th and 20th-century immigrants. The census identifies primary European ethnicities asGerman,Polish,Irish, andItalian. New waves of immigration came from the Middle East in the late 20th century, mostly Muslims and far fewer Christians minorities fromLebanon,Palestine,Syria,Iraq, andYemen. Dearborn has the proportionally largestMuslim population in the United States and thelargest mosque in North America.[7][8] In 2023, Dearborn became the first Arab-majority city in the US, with 55% of its residents claiming to be of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry in a 2023 survey.[9][10]
Before European encounter, the area had been inhabited for thousands of years by successiveFirst Nations peoples. Historical tribes belonged mostly to theAlgonquian-language family, especially theCouncil of Three Fires, thePotawatomi and related peoples. In contrast, theHuron (Wyandot) wereIroquoian speaking. French colonists had a trading post at Fort Detroit and a settlement developed there in the colonial period. Another developed on the south side of the Detroit River in what is now southwestern Ontario, near a Huron mission village. French and French-Canadian colonists also established farms at Dearborn in this period. France ceded all of its territory east of the Mississippi River in North America to Great Britain in 1763 after losing to Britain in theSeven Years' War.
Beginning in 1786, after the United States gained independence in theAmerican Revolutionary War, more European Americans entered this region, settling in Detroit and the Dearborn area.[11] With population growth, Dearborn Township was formed in 1833 and the village of Dearbornville in 1836, each named afterHenry Dearborn, a general in the American Revolution who becameSecretary of War under PresidentThomas Jefferson. The Town of Dearborn was incorporated in 1893. Through much of the 19th century, the area was largely rural and dependent on agriculture.
Stimulated by industrial development in Detroit and within its own limits, in 1927 Dearborn was established as a city. Its current borders result from a 1928 consolidation vote that merged Dearborn and neighboring Fordson (previously known asSpringwells), which feared being absorbed into expanding Detroit.
According to historian James W. Loewen, in his bookSundown Towns (2005), Dearborn discouraged African Americans from settling in the city. In the early 20th century, both white and black people migrated to Detroit for industrial jobs. Over time, some city residents moved to the suburbs. Many of Dearborn's residents "took pride in the saying, 'The sun never set on a Negro in Dearborn'". According toOrville Hubbard, the segregationist mayor of Dearborn from 1942 to 1978, "as far as he was concerned, it was against the law for a Negro to live in his suburb."[12] Hubbard told theMontgomery Advertiser in the mid-1950s, "Negroes can't get in here. Every time we hear of a Negro moving in, we respond quicker than you do to a fire."[13]
The area between Dearborn and Fordson was undeveloped, and remains so in part. Once farm land, much of this property was bought by Henry Ford for his estate,Fair Lane, and for theFord Motor Company World Headquarters. Later developments in this corridor were theFord airport (later converted to theDearborn Proving Grounds), and other Ford administrative and development facilities.
More recent additions areThe Henry Ford (a reconstructed historic village and museum), theHenry Ford Centennial Library, the super-regional shopping mallFairlane Town Center, and the Ford Performing Arts Center. The open land is planted withsunflowers and often with Ford's favorite crop ofsoybeans. The crops are never harvested.
TheArab American National Museum (AANM) opened in 2005, the first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture. Arab Americans in Dearborn include descendants ofLebanese Christians who immigrated in the early twentieth century to work in the auto industry, and more recent Arab immigrants and their descendants from other, primarily Muslim nations.[14]
On February 2, 2024, theWall Street Journal published an opinion piece titled "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital", reporting that there were a large number of supporters of Islamic extremism in the area. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said the article was inflammatory and was responsible for increased online hate speech against the city's citizens, so he increased police patrols.[15]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.5 square miles (63 km2), of which 24.4 square miles (63 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.37%) is water. The city developed on both sides of theRouge River. An artificial waterfall/low head dam was constructed by Henry Ford on his estate to power its powerhouse. The Upper, Middle, and Lower Branches of the river come together in Dearborn. The river is widened and channeled near the Rouge Plant to allowlake freighter access.
Fordson Island (42°17′38″N83°08′52″W / 42.29389°N 83.14778°W /42.29389; -83.14778) is an 8.4 acres (3.4 hectares) island about three miles (5 km) upriver on theRiver Rouge from its confluence with theDetroit River. It is the only major island in a tributary to the Detroit River. It was created in 1922 when engineers dug a secondary trench to reroute the River Rouge to increase navigability for shipping purposes, and businesses needed it to be navigable by the largelake freighters. The island is privately owned, has no public access, and is part of the city of Dearborn which has no frontage along the Detroit River.[16][17]
Dearborn is among a small number of municipalities that own property in other cities. It owns the 626-acre (2.53 km2)Camp Dearborn inMilford, Michigan, which is located 35 miles (56 km) from Dearborn.[18] Dearborn was among an even smaller number of cities that hold property in another state. For a time, the city owned the Dearborn Towers apartment complex inClearwater, Florida, but this has been sold. Camp Dearborn is considered part of the city of Dearborn. Revenues generated by camp admissions are incorporated into the city's budget.
Dearborn city, Michigan – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the 2010 census, the population of Dearborn was 98,153. The racial and ethnic composition was 89.1%White, 4.0% black or African-American, 0.2% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.2% Non-Hispanic of some other race, 4.0% reporting two or more races and 3.4% Hispanic or Latino.[27] 41.7% were of Arab ancestry (categorized as "White" in Census collection data).[28]
In the2000 census, 61.9% spoke onlyEnglish at home, 29.3% spokeArabic, 1.9%Spanish, and 1.5%Polish. There were 36,770 households, out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% weremarried couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.42.
In the city, 27.8% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.3% was from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $44,560, and the median income for a family was $53,060. Males had a median income of $45,114 versus $33,872 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $21,488. About 12.2% of families and 16.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 24.4% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 and over.
As of the 2012 estimate, Dearborn's population was thought to have fallen to 96,474, a decrease of 1.7% since 2010. Over the same period, though, SEMCOG, the local statistics agency ofMetro Detroit Council of Governments, has estimated the city to have grown to 99,001, or an increase of 1.2% since 2000. SEMCOG's July 2014 estimate listed Dearborn with a population of 102,566.[29]
Dearborn has a large community of descendants of ethnic Europeans who arrived as immigrants from the mid-19th into the 20th centuries. Their ancestors generally first settled in Detroit:Irish,German,Italians, andPolish. It is also a center ofMaltese American settlement, from the Mediterranean island of Malta. Also attracted to jobs in the auto industry, some were among immigrant Maltese who first settled inCorktown.[30]
The city has a smallAfrican-American population, many of whose ancestors came to the area from the rural South during theGreat Migration of the early twentieth century.[31]
The city's population includes 40,000Arab Americans. Per the 2000 census, Arab Americans totaled 29,181 or 29.85% of Dearborn's population; many are descendants of families who have been in the city since the early 20th century. The city has the largest proportion of Arab Americans in the United States.[32] As of 2006 Dearborn has the largestLebanese American population in the United States.[33]
The first Arab immigrants came in the early-to-mid-20th century to work in theautomotive industry and were chieflyChristians fromLebanon,Palestine, andSyria. Other immigrants from the Middle East, such asAssyrians, have also immigrated to the area. Since then, immigrants fromYemen,Iraq andPalestine, most of whom areMuslim, have joined them. Lebanese Americans comprise the largest group of ethnic Arabs.[34][35] The Arab Muslim community has built theIslamic Center of America[36] serving the Arab Shia Muslim community and theAmerican Moslem Society serving the Arab Sunni Muslim community. MoreIraqirefugees have come, fleeing thecontinued war in their country since 2003.
Warren Avenue has become the commercial center of the Arab-American community. TheArab American National Museum is located in Dearborn.[37] The museum was opened in January 2005 to celebrate theArab American community's history, culture and contributions to theUnited States.
In the 2019U.S. Census estimates, the largest ethnic group were Lebanese Americans, and the second largest wereYemeni Americans.[38] In 2025, Police Chief Haidar unilaterally released an image of a police badge featuringArabic script on social media. The police department later removed the post, and the city's mayor issued a statement rescinding the badge.[39]
In 2010,Nabeel Qureshi,David Wood, and two other people acting as Christian missionaries, were arrested at the Dearborn International Arab Festival. They had been handing out Christian literature aimed at Muslim believers. The four were prosecuted forbreach of the peace. Police ordered them to stop filming the incident, to provide identification, and to move at least five blocks from the border of the fair.[40] After reviewing the video evidence, the jury acquitted the defendants.[41] The four defendants filed a separate civil suit against the city. Dearborn was found to have violated theirconstitutional rights related to freedom of speech. The city settled the lawsuit and issued a formal apology to the individuals.[42]
PreacherTerry Jones ofGainesville, Florida, known for burning aQuran, the sacred book of Islam, planned a protest in 2011 outside theIslamic Center of America. Local authorities required him either to post a $45,000 "peace bond" to cover Dearborn's cost if Jonesincited violence, or to go to trial. Jones contested that requirement, and he and his co-pastor Wayne Sapp refused to post the bond. They were held briefly in jail, while claiming violation ofFirst Amendment rights. That night Jones was released by the court.[43] The ACLU had filed anamicus brief in support of Jones's protest plans.[44] One week later, on April 29, Jones led a rally at the Dearborn City Hall, in a designated free speech zone. Riot police were called out to control counter protesters.[45][46][47] Jones also planned to speak at the annual Arab Festival on June 18, 2011, but his route was blocked by protesters, six of whom were arrested. Police said they did not have enough officers present to maintain safety.[48] Christianmissionaries accompanied Jones with their own protest signs.[49]
On November 11, 2011, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Ziolkowski vacated the "breach of peace" ruling against Jones and Sapp on the grounds that they were denied due process.[50] On April 7, 2012, Jones led another protest in front of the Islamic Center of America, where he spoke about Islam and free speech. The mosque officials had locked it down to prevent damage. The city used thirty police cars to block traffic from the area in an effort to prevent a counter protest.[51]
Dearborn skyline withFord River Rouge Complex in background, 1973Edward Hotel and conference center
Theworld headquarters ofFord Motor Company is in Dearborn.[52] Its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance, and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford, including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses, such as the Fairlane Town Center shopping mall.DFCU Financial, the largestcredit union in Michigan, was created for Ford and related companies' employees.
One of the largest employers in Dearborn is Oakwood Healthcare System (now a part of Beaumont Health) H. Other major employers include auto suppliers likeVisteon, education facilities such as Henry Ford College, and museums such as The Henry Ford. Other businesses headquartered in Dearborn includeCarhartt (clothing),Eppinger (fishing lures), AAA Michigan (insurance), and theSociety of Manufacturing Engineers.
Divine Child High School and Elementary School areprivate schools in Dearborn; the high school is the largest private coed high school in the area.Henry Ford Academy is a charter high school insideGreenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Another charter secondary school is Advanced Technology Academy. Dearborn Schools operated the Clara B. Ford High School inside Vista Maria, a non-profit residential treatment agency for girls in Dearborn Heights.Clara B. Ford High School became a charter school in the 2007–08 school year.
A small portion of the city limits is within theWestwood Community School District.[57] The sections of Dearborn within the district are zoned for industrial and commercial uses.[58]
TheIslamic Center of America operates the Muslim American Youth Academy (MAYA), an Islamic elementary and middle school.
TheRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit operates Sacred Heart Elementary School. It previously operated the St. Alphonsus School in Dearborn. In 2003 the archdiocese closed the high school of St. Alphonsus,[59] and in 2005 closed the St. Alphonsus elementary school.[60]
Global Educational Excellence operates multiplecharter schools in Dearborn: Riverside Academy Early Childhood Center, Riverside Academy East Campus (K-5), and Riverside Academy West Campus (6–12).[61]
Dearborn Public Library includes theHenry Ford Centennial Library, which is the main library; and the Bryant and Esper branches.[63]
Dearborn's first public library opened in 1924 at the building now known as the Bryant Branch. This served as the main library until the Ford library opened in 1969. In 1970 what became known as the Mason building was classified as a branch library. The library was renamed in 1977 after Katharine Wright Bryant, who developed a plan for the library and campaigned for it.[64]
Around April 1963 theFord Motor Company granted the City of Dearborn $3 million to build a library as a memorial toHenry Ford. The company deeded 15.3 acres (6.2 ha) of vacant land for the public library to the city on July 30, 1963, the centennial or 100th anniversary of Henry Ford's birth. TheFord Foundation later granted the library an additional $500,000 for supplies and equipment. On November 25, 1969, the library was dedicated. Originally only the library had offices in the building but in 1979, the library gave up the western side's meeting rooms for the City of Dearborn Health Department.[65]
The Esper Branch, the smallest branch, is located in what is known as the Arab residential quarter of the city, dedicated on October 12, 1953. Originally named the Warren Branch, this structure had replaced the Northeast Branch, which opened in a storefront in 1944. In October 1961, it was named after city councilman Anthony M. Esper.[66]
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Dearborn, operating itsWolverine three times daily in each direction betweenChicago, Illinois andPontiac, viaDetroit. Baggage cannot be checked at this location; however, up to two suitcases, in addition to any "personal items" such as briefcases, purses, laptop bags, and infant equipment, are allowed on board as carry-ons. There is one rail stop in Dearborn: theJohn D. Dingell Transit Center. Amtrak operates on theMichigan Department of Transportation Michigan Line. This track runs from Dearborn to Kalamazoo, Michigan.CSX Transportation's Detroit Subdivision,Canadian National Railway/Grand Trunk Western Railroad's Dearborn Subdivision, andConrail Shared Assets' Junction Yard Running Track also pass through Dearborn. Most of the freight traffic on these rails is related to the automotive industry.
From 1924 to 1947, Dearborn was the site ofFord Airport. It featured the world's first concrete runway[67] and the first scheduled U.S. passenger service.[68]
Launched in March 2021, SMART Flex[69] is an on-demand public transit service launched in partnership with TransitTech company Via Transportation. SMART Flex is available to residents and workers in Dearborn, Troy, the Hall Road corridor between Utica and New Baltimore, Pontiac/Auburn Hills, and Farmington/Farmington Hills to book rides using the SMART Flex app.
Dearborn has a mayor-council form of government. As of 2021, the Mayor of the City of Dearborn isAbdullah Hammoud.[73] The City Clerk isGeorge T. Darany. The City Council President is Michael T. Sareini.[74]
Built in 1922, theDearborn City Hall Complex was in operation until 2014 when government operations movedto the new Dearborn Administrative Center. The former city hall was redeveloped byArtspace Projects to preserve affordable and sustainable space for artists and arts organizations.[75]
In 2021, Niraj Warikoo of theDetroit Free Press reported that Yemeni Americans in Dearborn were advocating for more of a role in their city's government.[38]
In the2022 Michigan elections, there was a shift in east Dearborn (heavily Arab and Muslim) toward theRepublican Party as LGBTQ+ materials in schools became a political issue. According to Niraj Warikoo ofThe Detroit News, "Democrats still won the city overall by a comfortable margin".[78]
1795 – James Cissne becomes first settler in what is now west Dearborn.
1796 –Wayne County is formed by proclamation of the acting governor of the Northwest Territory. Its original area is 2,000,000 square miles (5,200,000 km2), stretching fromCleveland, Ohio, toChicago, Illinois, and northwest toCanada.
May 7, 1800 –Indiana Territory, created out of part ofNorthwest Territory, although the eastern half of Michigan including the Dearborn area, was not attached to Indiana Territory untilOhio was admitted as a state in 1803.
November 15, 1815 – Current boundaries of Wayne County drawn, county split into 18 townships.
January 5, 1818 – Springwells Township established by Gov.Lewis Cass.
October 23, 1824 – Bucklin Township created by Gov. Lewis Cass. The area ran from Greenfield to approximately Haggerty and from Van Born to Eight Mile.
1826 – Conrad Ten Eyck builds Ten Eyck Tavern at Michigan Avenue and Rouge River.
1827 – Wayne County's boundaries changed to its current 615 square miles (1,593 km2).
April 12, 1827 – Springwells and Bucklin townships formally organized and laid out by gubernatorial act.
October 29, 1829 – Bucklin Township split along what is today Inkster Road intoNankin (west half) andPekin (east half) townships.
November 1, 1919 – The firsthouse numbering ordinance in Dearborn starts. Residents required to place standard plate number on right side of the main house entrance five feet up.
December 9, 1919 – Springwells Township incorporates as village of Springwells.
October 16, 1922 – Springwells Township annexes small section of Dearborn Township east of present-day Greenfield Road.
December 27, 1923 – Voters approve incorporation of Springwells as a city. It officially became a city April 7, 1924.
September 9, 1924 – Village of Warrendale incorporates.
November 1924 – Ford Airport opens.
April 6, 1925 – Warrendale voters and residents of remaining Greenfield Township approve annexation by Detroit.
May 26, 1925 – Village of Dearborn annexes large portion of Dearborn Township.
December 23, 1925 – Springwells changes name to city of Fordson.
February 15, 1926 – First U.S.airmail delivery made, going fromFord Airport in Dearborn to Cleveland.
September 14, 1926 – Election approves incorporation of village ofInkster. Unincorporated part of Dearborn Township split into two unconnected sections.
1939 – The Historic Springwells Park Neighborhood is established by Edsel B. Ford to provide company executives and auto workers with upscale housing accommodations.
January 6, 1942 –Orville L. Hubbard takes office as third mayor of Dearborn.
October 20, 1947 – Dearborn City Council approves purchase of land nearMilford, Michigan for what would become Camp Dearborn. First section of camp opens following year.
October 21, 1947 – Ford Airport officially closes.
1950 – First Pleasant Hours senior citizen group formed.
1950 – Dearborn Historical Museum formally established.
January 1953 – Oakwood Hospital formally opened and dedicated.
April 22, 1958 – Election held to annex part of South Dearborn Township to Dearborn. Proposal fails.
1959 – University of Michigan (Dearborn Campus) opens.
April 6, 1959 – Election held to annex part of North Dearborn Township to Dearborn. Proposal fails.
^Wilkerson, Isabel (2011).The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. New York: Vintage Books. p. 378.ISBN978-0-679-76388-8.
^"Station: Dearborn, MI".U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2021.
^Pratt, Chastity, Patricia Montemurri, and Lori Higgins. "Parents, kids scramble as education options narrowArchived 2013-07-21 at theWayback Machine."Detroit Free Press. March 17, 2005. A1 News. Retrieved on April 30, 2011. "School closings announced Wednesday by the Archdiocese of Detroit doomed eight high schools in Detroit and neighboring suburbs and will shutter 10 elementary schools, including historic landmarks such as St. Alphonsus Elementary in Dearborn and St. Florian Elementary in Hamtramck."
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