Waterford Township is a charter township in the geographic center of

Oakland County, Michigan Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

, United States. In 2020, the population of Waterford Township was 70,565.

Communities

Waterford Township has five

unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

: * Clintonville () is located on Walton Boulevard between Clintonville Road and Sashabaw Road. * Drayton Plains () is located at

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network of ...

on the west end of Loon Lake. * Elizabeth Lake () is an historic resort community located on Elizabeth Lake. * Four Towns () is located at Lochaven Road and Cooley Lake Road. * Waterford Village () is an historic village located at Dixie Highway and Andersonville Road.

History

Lewis Cass, the third

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Michigan Territory, established the boundaries of Oakland County in 1819. Waterford Township was organized in 1834. In 1818, Oliver Williams selected land in Oakland CountySeeley (1912), p. 484-85. which he purchased for two dollars an

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

. Archibald Phillips and Alpheus Williams purchased in what later became Waterford Village. In 1818, Oliver Williams and his family established the first

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

settlement in the county on the banks of

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

. In 1819, Alpheus Williams and Archibald Phillips continued on to where the

Clinton River The Clinton River is a river in southeastern Michigan in the United States. It is named in honor of DeWitt Clinton, who was governor of New York from 1817 to 1823. The main branch of the river rises from wetlands and coldwater tributaries from ...

crossed the old

Saginaw Trail Saginaw Trail is the collective name for a set of connected roads in Southeast and Central Michigan that runs from Detroit to Saginaw through Pontiac and Flint that was originally a tribal foot trail. To drive it today, drivers would follow: * from ...

(now known as Dixie Highway). They settled at the site of the present Waterford Village. Here the first house of Waterford Village was built by Alpheus Williams on the north bank of the river. Archibald Phillips built his

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

across from the south corner where Andersonville Road meets Dixie Highway. Williams and Phillips also built the first

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

where the Clinton River crossed the Saginaw Trail and erected the first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

. The township was named Waterford because of the vast number of lakes covering the township.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 11.22%, is water.

Climate

Like the rest of

Southeast Michigan Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are c ...

, Waterford Township has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

. It has a higher elevation than

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 ...

( compared to ), and therefore the township is somewhat cooler than Detroit and other nearby cities. It is moderately cold in the winter with varied snowfall throughout. Spring varies from warm by day to cool at night. The township's warmest weather occurs in the summer with temperatures in the eighty to ninety degree range and typically high humidity. Summer is also the wettest season in the area. In recent years, Waterford Township has seen a few 100-plus degree days. Fall starts warm, but November ends with high temperatures barely above freezing.

Lakes

Waterford Township is home to 34 named lakes.

Demographics

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Waterford Township had a population of 70,565.

2020 Census

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the racial makeup of the township was: * 85.2% White alone * 5.7% Black or African American alone * 0.5% American Indian and Alaska native alone * 2.1% Asian alone * 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone * 4.9% Two or More Races alone * 7.0% Hispanic or Latino * 81.4% White alone, not Hispanic or Latino

2010 Census

According to the 2010 Census the racial and ethnic makeup of Waterford's population was 83.7% non-Hispanic White, and 4.8% African-American, 0.4% Native American, 1.9% Asian and 6.6% Hispanic.

2000 Census

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 73,150 people, 29,387 households, and 19,130 families residing in the township in 2000. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 2,334.3 people per square mile (901.2/km²). In 2000, there were 30,404 housing units, with an average density of 970.2 per square mile (374.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township in 2000 was: * 92.65%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

* 3.91%

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

* 2.89%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

* 0.35% Native American * 1.27%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

* 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

* 1.13% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

* 1.69% from two or more races In 2000, there were: * 29,387 households * 30.4% of the households had children under the age of 18 living with them * 51.6% were married couples living together * 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present * 34.9% were non-families * 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals * 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older * 2.42 was the average household size * 2.99 was the average family size. The township's 2000 population was: * 23.2% under the age of 18 * 8.2% from 18 to 24 * 36.0% from 25 to 44 * 21.8% from 45 to 64 * 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older * The median age was 36 years * For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males * For every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.5 males The median income for a household in 2000 in the township was $55,008, and the median income for a family was $64,500. Males had a median income of $47,409 versus $32,016 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the township was $27,432. About 3.8% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 5.8% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 and over.

Transportation

Oakland County International Airport Oakland County International Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located in Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The airport is located approximately one mile from the center of Waterford Township and Oakland ...

is located in Waterford Township. The airport is a hub for the airline Lakeshore Express, a local commuter airline to Pellston, and

Chicago-Midway Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...

Railroad

In 1851, the

Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway is a defunct railroad which operated in the US state of Michigan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Itself the product of several consolidations in the 1870s, it became part of the Grand Tr ...

came through Waterford Township and three train depots were built in Waterford Township; the Drayton Plains depot (at Hatchery Rd.), the

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

depot (at Airport Rd.) and the Windiate depot (at Windiate Rd.) . The railroad helped make the many lakes of the Waterford area easily accessible to summer vacationers from the big cities and served to make Waterford Township a summer resort area. In 1882, the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway was purchased by the

Grand Trunk Western Railroad The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company is an American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding ...

. As roads were improved, people began driving to their summer resort area and the passenger depots were closed in the late 1950s. The Windiate Park Hotel was a summer resort for vacationers from

and

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

. The resort was easily accessed by four trains a day during the summer months from the 1890s to the 1940s and was located on

Lotus Lake Lotus Pond () is an artificial lake and popular tourist destination on the east side of Zuoying District in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Opened in 1951, it is famous for the lotus plants on the lake and the numerous temples around the lake, including the ...

, near the Windiate depot. The resort featured boating, fishing, sailing, sunbathing, tennis and a dance hall. The resort was owned by J.D. and M.L. Rice. Another popular summer resort was the Waterford Hotel in the village of Waterford. The hotel was sold to William Bradt, who changed its name to Bradt's Exchange. The hotel was also named the Waterford Exchange, and served as a

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

stop for over 60 years. Today, the railroad is owned by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

(CN) and passenger service is no longer offered, giving way to freight only. There are seven railroad crossings in Waterford Township and one railroad bridge.

Government and infrastructure

The West Campus of the Oakland County Service Center is located in Waterford Township. This includes the Oakland County Executive Building and Conference Center, and the Oakland County Children's Village, the county's

juvenile detention center In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile de ...

for children. The Children's Village acts as one of the support sites for the

Waterford School District Waterford School District is a school district headquartered in Waterford Township, Michigan. History Waterford Township lays claim to the first public school in Oakland County. That school was established in 1821 on the shores of Silver Lake ...

Education

Public schools

The

operates public schools in most of Waterford Township (the

Pontiac School District The School District of the City of Pontiac (or Pontiac School District, PSD) is a public school district headquartered in the Odell Nails Administration Building in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. The school district serves all of the city of ...

serves a small portion of the township). In 1961, Kettering High School opened and Mott High School opened in 1969. Kettering's address is now 2800 Kettering Drive in Waterford. In 2012, Durant High School, an

alternative school An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientati ...

, opened in the township at 501 N. Cass Lake Road in Waterford. All three Waterford Township public high schools were named after automobile industry pioneers;

William C. Durant William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each s ...

Charles F. Kettering Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 25, 1958) sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. For the list of patents issued to Kettering, see, Le ...

, and Charles S. Mott. Waterford Township High School was located in Waterford Township, Michigan at the corner of Highland Rd. and Crescent Lake Rd. It was closed as a high school in 1983, but the Board of Education continued to use the building for several years for various purposes. (Waterford Township: Year Opened: 1947, Year Closed: 1983). In 1957, John D. Pierce Junior High School opened at 5145 Hatchery Road in Waterford, and Stevens T. Mason Junior High School was opened in 1965 at 3835 West Walton Blvd. in Waterford. Both junior high schools originally included grades 7 through 9. Today, both Pierce and Mason are middle schools, which include grades 6 through 8. As of the 2015–16 school year, the Waterford School District has nine

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

located within the township;

William Beaumont William Beaumont (November 21, 1785 – April 25, 1853) was a surgeon in the U.S. Army who became known as the "Father of Gastric Physiology" following his research on human digestion.

Elementary School, Thomas M. Cooley Elementary School, Donelson Hills Elementary School, David Grayson Elementary School, Laura S. Haviland Elementary School,

Douglass Houghton Douglass Houghton (September 21, 1809 – October 13, 1845) was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. It was the site of a copper boom and extensive copper mining beginnin ...

Elementary School,

William S. Knudsen William Signius Knudsen (March 25, 1879 – April 27, 1948) was a leading Danish-American automotive industry executive and an American general during World War II. His experience and success as a key senior manager in the operations sides of F ...

Elementary School, Riverside Elementary School, and

Henry R. Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...

Elementary School.

Private schools

Opened in 1960, Our Lady of the Lakes School is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

K-12 school also located in the township at 5495 Dixie Highway, just south of Waterford Village. St. Benedict School in Waterford was in operation until circa 2003, when the campus became the lower (elementary school) of

Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private Catholic K-12 school in Pontiac, Michigan in Metro Detroit. Founded by Marist Fathers and Brothers in 1994. It is a coed, college-preparatory school. History Originally the school wa ...

; this occurred in a time when other Catholic elementary schools in the area closed. The lower school moved to the common

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

campus in 2013.

Community College

Waterford Township is home to the Oakland Community College Highland Lakes Campus. The campus, which opened in 1965, is located at 7350 Cooley Lake Road in Waterford.

Oakland Schools Oakland Schools (OS) is the intermediate school district serving Oakland County, Michigan in Metro Detroit. The headquarters is located in Waterford Township. As of 2013, within Oakland County the district serves 28 local school districts, 19 p ...

, the

intermediate school district An intermediate school district, in the United States, is a term used by some states to classify a special agency that operates outside the traditional charter of a school district. The specific role of these agencies varies by state. Michigan I ...

serving

Oakland County Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

, has its offices in Waterford Township.

Public library

The Waterford Township Public Library serves the residents of the township. It is located at 5168 Civic Center Drive, off of Crescent Lake Road near Hatchery Road in Waterford.

Public safety

Waterford Township maintains its own police and fire departments. The Waterford Police Department was founded in 1953. Frank VanAtta was appointed the first Waterford Chief of Police, earning a yearly salary of $5,500. William Stokes was a long time chief who had some 30 years of service before retiring in 1985. He was followed by Robert (Duke) Reynolds and then Gary Root followed by Paul Valad. After a short and contentious stint as chief (a vote of no confidence showed zero votes for), Daniel McCaw was replaced by the current chief Scott Underwood who retired as a Lieutenant at the Warren Police Department. The police station is located at 5150 Civic Center Drive in Waterford near the Waterford Township Hall and the 51st District Court in the Waterford Civic Center Complex. The police department was drastically cut in 2010 due to the falling economy and the closing of 2 of the largest commercial tax sources- The Summit Place Mall and a General Motors facility. The department went from over 100 sworn police officers to 55 which was similar to the number of officers in the 1970s. A recent tax increase voted on by the residents is supposed to add 9 more officers. Waterford still remains one of the largest physical and populated areas in Oakland County but remains on the bottom of police officers per population. The Waterford Regional Fire Department employs 144. It is currently the 4th largest Fire Department in the State of Michigan. Waterford Township also provides Fire, EMS, and Dispatch services to the neighboring City of Pontiac and City of Lake Angelus.

Notable people

* Todd Alsup, pianist, singer-songwriter *

Mary Barra Mary Teresa Barra (née Makela; born December 24, 1961) is an American businesswoman who has been the chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors since January 15, 2014. She is the first female CEO of a 'Big Three' automaker. In D ...

, CEO,

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

* Paul Fry, baseball player for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Pat LaFontaine Patrick Michael LaFontaine (born February 22, 1965) is an American former ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and spent his entire playing career with the league's New York State-based teams. LaFontaine played for th ...

, former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player, 2003 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee *

Kirk Gibson Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is currently a color commentator for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and a special assistant for the Tigers. As a player, Gibson ...

, former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player * Gail Goestenkors, former women's basketball head coach,

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

* Michael L. Good, dean,

University of Florida College of Medicine The University of Florida College of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Florida. It is part of the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center, with facilities in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida. The school grants Doctor o ...

Dylan Larkin Dylan Larkin (born July 30, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey player and captain of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Larkin was drafted 15th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Pr ...

player and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

* Dave Marsh, music critic * Jim Miller, former NFL player * Paul Mitchell, Member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Kristopher Pooley Kristopher Michael Pooley (born October 30, 1976) is an American rock musician from Detroit. He toured with Gwen Stefani as her keyboardist, programmer, and musical director. He is also the music director for Katy Perry, Kesha, Demi Lovato ...

, rock musician and musical director * Jean (Racine) Prahm, U.S. Olympian bobsledder * Brett Reed, men's basketball head coach,

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

* Trevor Strnad, lead singer, The Black Dahlia Murder

References

Sources

External links

Charter Township of Waterford Michigan

Waterford Township Public Library

Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Townships in Oakland County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan Metro Detroit 1834 establishments in Michigan Territory Populated places established in 1834 Former census-designated places in Michigan