Keego Harbor is a city in Oakland 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 so ...

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, ...

. A northern suburb of Detroit, Keego Harbor is located roughly from

downtown Detroit Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a Neighborhoods in Detroit, residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Locally, "downtown" tends to refer to the 1.4 square mile region bordered by M-10 (Michigan high ...

, and about southwest of

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 2,970. With a land area of , Keego Harbor is the third-smallest city by land area in the state of Michigan, after Petersburg and Clarkston.

History

The first non-native settlers to the area arrived between 1825 and 1830. Cass Lake drew many wealthy residents to purchase land along the lake for vacationing. In 1890, a railway line was built through Keego Harbor to connect to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and

, making the area much more accessible. At the turn of the century, a prominent Pontiac lawyer, Joseph E. Sawyer, purchased and platted land just to the southwest along Orchard Lake. He built a canal to connect the smaller Dollar Lake to Cass Lake and declared the area to be a harbor on the eastern edge of Cass Lake. He named the area Keego, which was a phonetic spelling of the

Anishinaabemowin Ojibwe ( ), also known as Ojibwa ( ), Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algon ...

word "giigoonh" meaning "fish." The spelling Keego comes from the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, ''

The Song of Hiawatha ''The Song of Hiawatha'' is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features Native American characters. The epic relates the fictional adventures of an Ojibwe warrior named Hiawatha and the tragedy of his lo ...

''. The community was originally part of West Bloomfield Township before incorporating as an independent city in 1955.

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 (9.09%) is water. The small Dollar Lake and canal remain within the city of Keego Harbor. The city is on the eastern shores of Cass Lake and is surrounded by Sylvan Lake on the east, Orchard Lake Village on the southwest, Waterford Township on the north, and West Bloomfield Township on the south and northwest.

Government

Federal, state, and county legislators

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 2,970 people, 1,292 households, and 721 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 1,473 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.1%

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 ...

, 6.2%

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 ...

, 0.3% Native American, 2.3% Asian, 4.0% from other races, and 3.1% 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 of any race were 10.8% of the population. There were 1,292 households, of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.1% 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, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.2% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.08. The median age in the city was 35.6 years. 24.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 33.6% were from 25 to 44; 26.1% were from 45 to 64; and 7.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.3% male and 49.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,769 people, 1,223 households, and 664 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,317 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.08%

, 0.61%

, 1.16% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 1.26% from other races, and 1.84% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 4.37% of the population. There were 1,223 households, out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% were

living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 37.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.07. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 41.1% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $46,552, and the median income for a family was $49,015. Males had a median income of $37,031 versus $34,038 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 $26,305. About 5.2% 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 ...

, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Keego Harbor is within the West Bloomfield School District.District Overview
"

West Bloomfield School District. Retrieved on September 8, 2013.

Notes

References

External links

City of Keego HarborView Fiscal Transparency Data for Keego Harbor
{{Metro Detroit Cities in Oakland County, Michigan Metro Detroit Populated places established in 1955 1955 establishments in Michigan