Ecorse Township is a defunct

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England, New York, and Wisconsin to ref ...

in Wayne County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Description

The township consisted of 54 mi² (140 km²), which included two small islands in the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

. It was bordered to the north by Springwells Township with the boundary being the River Rouge. To the west it was bordered by Dearborn and Taylor Townships, with the primary boundary being Pelham Road. To the south it was bordered by Monguagon Township, and a small part of Brownstown Township, with the primary boundary being Pennsylvania Road. Finally, to the east, it was bordered by the

. Organized in 1827, the entire township has since been incorporated, and includes the cities of Melvindale,

Allen Park Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638. Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limit ...

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

, River Rouge,

Ecorse Ecorse ( ') is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,512 at the 2010 census. Ecorse is part of the Downriver community within Metro Detroit. The city shares a northwestern border with the city of Detroit ...

Southgate Southgate or South Gate may refer to: Places Australia *Southgate, Sylvania *Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, an area within Southbank, Victoria Canada *Southgate, Ontario, a township in Grey County * Southgate, Middlesex County, Ontario Ed ...

, Wyandotte, and the Boynton and Oakwood Heights neighborhoods of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

History

Although French explorers, missionaries, and traders frequented the area, the first existing record of a white settler owning land dates to 1776, when the

Pottawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

ceded a large tract of land to Pierre St. Cosme. One boundary of the ceded land came to be known as "St. Cosme Line" and later became part of the route of Southfield Road. In the late 18th century, many land grants in the area were awarded by the French crown. The first known permanent settler in what would become Ecorse Township was Pierre Michel Campau, who arrived in 1795. He settle in Southgate, which subsequently became a farming community. Other people from the Detroit area at the

Rouge Rouge is the French word for "red" and may refer to: Compounds * Rouge (cosmetics), a cosmetic used to color the cheeks and emphasize the cheekbones * Jeweler's rouge or iron(III) oxide * Rouging, a form of corrosion applicable to stainless ...

and

s followed him to Southgate. Some records indicate settlers near the mouth of the

Ecorse River The Ecorse River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed November 7, 2011 river in southern Michigan. Because of its small size, it is often identified as Ecorse Creek. ...

as early as 1764. The township was established on April 12, 1827 along with eight other townships by the Michigan Territorial Legislature in a major reorganization of Wayne County.

References

{{reflist Defunct townships in Michigan Former townships in Wayne County, Michigan 1827 establishments in Michigan Territory Populated places established in 1827 1958 disestablishments in Michigan Populated places disestablished in 1958