Allen Park is a city in
Wayne County in the U.S. state of
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. As of the
2020 Census, the population was 27,528.
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limits. Since 2002, Allen Park is the practice home of the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
football team and is also the site of the team's headquarters. The city is known for its tree-lined streets, brick houses, and the
Fairlane Green Shopping Center that opened in 2006. The city was once recognized in
''Money'' Magazine's list of America's Best Small Cities. Allen Park is part of the collection of communities known as
Downriver.
Allen Park is home to the
Uniroyal Giant Tire, the largest non-production
tire
A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineeri ...
scale model
A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...
ever built, and one of the
world's largest roadside attractions.
Originally a
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...
at the
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...
, the structure was moved to Allen Park in 1966.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.71%) is water.
Boundaries
Allen Park borders
Southgate to the South,
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 from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...
to the east,
Melvindale to the northeast,
Dearborn to the north,
Dearborn Heights
Dearborn Heights is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Dearborn Heights is located about west of downtown Detroit. The city shares a small border with Detroit, and is considered a bedroom c ...
to the northwest, and
Taylor
Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to:
People
* Taylor (surname)
** List of people with surname Taylor
* Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah
* Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron
* Justice Taylor (disambiguation)
...
to the west.
Major roads
* runs through the southeast corner of Allen Park between Goddard Road and the Lincoln Park border.
* runs through the northern portion of Allen Park between Pelham Road and the Rouge River.
*, Southfield Road, is an eight-lane boulevard that travels in a northwest–southeast direction between the Lincoln Park border and I-94. It becomes the Southfield Freeway and curves to the northeast after the I-94 interchange.
History
Allen Park was incorporated as a village in 1927, and as a city in 1957.
[Romig, Walter (1986). ''Michigan Place Names''. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, p. 18. .] It was named after Lewis Allen, a well-to-do lawyer and lumberman whose 276½ acres of land (primarily in
Ecorse Township) included holdings in what are now Allen Park and
Melvindale.
Hubert Champaign (for whom Champaign Park is named) and Edward Pepper were two other early residents of the area.
In 1950 Allen Park did not include the part of the city directly west of
Melvindale; that area was still part of
Ecorse Township.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 28,210 people, 11,580 households, and 7,606 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...
was . There were 12,206 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.9%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.1%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.5%
Native American, 0.8%
Asian, 2.0% from
other races, and 1.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino residents of any race were 8.1% of the population.
There were 11,580 households, of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.3% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.02.
The median age in the city was 41.7 years. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.8% were from 25 to 44; 28.5% were from 45 to 64; and 17.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 29,376 people, 11,974 households, and 8,202 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 12,254 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.6%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.7%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.36%
Native American, 0.81%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.21% from
other races, and 1.27% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino residents of any race were 4.73% of the population. There were 11,974 households, out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city, 22.2% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.5% was from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.9% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 women age eighteen and over, there were 88.1 men.
The median income for a household in the city was $51,992, and the median income for a family was $63,350. Males had a median income of $50,143 versus $31,168 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $24,980. About 1.9% of families and 3.2% 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 ...
, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government
As of August 2024, the Mayor of Allen Park is Gail McLeod, who has served since 2019.
The City Council consists of six members who serve four-year terms: Nancy Knick, Matthew E. Valerius, Dennis Marcos, Gerald Barr Jr., Gary Schlack, and Dan Loyd. Other elected officials include City Clerk Michael Mizzi and City Treasurer Tim Estheimer.
Education
Public schools
Most of Allen Park is within the
Allen Park School District. The district has three elementary schools: Arno, Lindemann, and Bennie. The district also includes Allen Park Middle School,
Allen Park High School
Allen Park High School is a secondary school in Allen Park, Michigan, United States. It is operated by Allen Park Public Schools. Allen Park High was established in 1950. Prior to then, Allen Park School District students attended Detroi ...
, and Allen Park Community School.
The northern part of Allen Park is within the
Melvindale-Northern Allen Park Public Schools. Rogers Early Elementary School is within Allen Park. Residents of the district go on to
Melvindale High School in Allen Park.
The
Southgate Community School District serves Allen Park south of the Sexton-Kilfoil Drain.
Prior to the establishment of Allen Park High School in 1950, education in Allen Park, provided at the Lapham school, ended after the eighth grade. Students in the Allen Park school district had to travel to
Detroit Southwestern High School,
Lincoln Park High School, and/or
Melvindale High School.
[Broglin, p]
41
Private schools
Private schools in Allen Park include
Inter-City Baptist School and
St. Frances Cabrini Schools (including
Cabrini High School). Historically religious private schools in
Ecorse,
River Rouge, and
Taylor
Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to:
People
* Taylor (surname)
** List of people with surname Taylor
* Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah
* Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron
* Justice Taylor (disambiguation)
...
served Allen Park residents.
[
]
Sports
In 2009, the Professional Bowlers Association
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and currently owned by the Lucky Strike Entertainment Corpor ...
(PBA) announced that Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park would be the main site for the inaugural PBA World Series of Bowling. This unique event featured the first seven tournaments of the PBA's 2009–10 season all contested in the same area. One tournament (Motor City Open) was contested in nearby Taylor, Michigan
Taylor is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 63,409 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Taylor is the fifth most-populated city in Wayne County and the 17th List of municip ...
, while the other six (including the PBA World Championship
The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Ten-pin bowling, bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open (bowling), U.S. Open and USBC Masters ...
qualifying and match play rounds) took place at Thunderbowl. The 2009 events ran August 2-September 6, with the televised finals being taped by ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
on September 5–6. Thunderbowl Lanes has hosted additional PBA tournaments since that time, including the five-event PBA Fall Swing in September, 2016 and both the 2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
and 2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
PBA Tour Finals, and the 2025
So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
USBC Masters and PBA Playoffs. The World Series of Bowling returned to Thunderbowl Lanes for its tenth anniversary in the 2019 PBA Tour season, with events running March 11–21.
The National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
's Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
have their offices and training facility in Allen Park.
Notable residents
* Terry Andrysiak, football quarterback
* Jeff Bernard, unlimited hydroplane driver
*John Bizon
John Bizon (born September 1, 1951) was an American politician and physician who served as a member of the Michigan Senate for the Michigan's 19th Senate district, 19th district. Elected in November 2018, he assumed office on January 1, 2019, and ...
, member of the Michigan Senate
The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...
*Amanda Chidester
Amanda Marie Chidester (born April 11, 1990) is an American former professional softball player and current assistant coach for Michigan Wolverines softball, Michigan. She was named National Pro Fastpitch Player of the Year for the Chicago Bandi ...
, softball player
* Frank Liberati, former member of the Michigan House of Representatives
The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...
* Tullio Liberati, member of the Michigan House of Representatives
* Jennifer Valoppi, journalist
*John Varvatos
John Varvatos (born 1954) is an American menswear designer. He has worked for both Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, and started his own label in 1999.
Early life
The Varvatos family is originally from the village of Poulata on the island o ...
, fashion designer
References
* Broglin, Sharon. ''Allen Park''. Arcadia Publishing
Arcadia Publishing is an American Publishing, publisher of neighborhood, local history, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs th ...
, 2007. , 9780738551098.
Notes
External links
City of Allen Park
{{Authority control
Cities in Wayne County, Michigan
Metro Detroit
Hungarian-American culture in Michigan
1927 establishments in Michigan
Populated places established in 1927