Mount Clemens is a city 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, ...

. The population was 15,697 at the 2020 census. It is the

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation's Capital city, capital is also seat of its governmen ...

Macomb County Macomb County ( ) is a county on the eastern shore of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, bordering Detroit to the north and containing many of its northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Mt. Clemens, a ...

and part of the

Detroit metropolitan area Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the official statistical areas ...

History

Mount Clemens was first surveyed in 1795 after the Revolutionary War by Christian Clemens, who settled there four years later. Clemens and his friend, John Brooks, built a

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

, which attracted workers and customers, helping to settle the area. Brooks and Clemens platted the land, and the town was named after Clemens in 1818. It received a post office in 1821, with

John Stockton John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the great point guards of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, and the team made the pla ...

as the first postmaster. Christian Clemens is buried at Clemens Park, located just north of downtown.

Indian mound Many pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to specific people or archaeological culture but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks that in ...

s were in the vicinity, more specifically just north of 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 ...

near the present location of

Selfridge Air National Guard Base Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Un ...

. The settlement filed for incorporation as a village in 1837, but this was not acted upon by the legislature until 1851. It was incorporated as a city in 1879. It became the seat of Macomb County on March 11, 1818.How Did Michigan Cities Get Their Names?

Pure Michigan Pure Michigan is as an advertising campaign by the State of Michigan to market itself as a travel and tourism destination. It was launched in 2008 featuring the voice of actor and comedian Tim Allen, using the title song from '' The Cider House R ...

The Mount Clemens Public Library opened in 1865. Historically, Mount Clemens' largest industry for more than 100 years, from 1873 to 1974, was tourism related to the mineral baths, drawn from springs that were scattered throughout the city. Such mineral baths were very popular and were tourist destinations. At the peak of the industry, the city had 11 bathhouses and several hotels related to this trade. The first bathhouse was built in 1873 and was known as "The Original"; it was located on the corner of Jones and Water streets. The bathhouse burned in 1883, but it was rebuilt even larger the following year to accommodate the crowds of customers. Over the years, noted visitors such as film actors

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

and

Mae West Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known ...

, athletes

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

and

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. One of the most iconic athl ...

, news magnate

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

, and the wealthy

Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanth ...

vacationed in the city to take advantage of the mineral springs baths. The only remaining bathhouse building from this era is St. Joseph's Sanitarium and Bath House. It has recently been renamed as Select Specialty Hospital and is owned by Select Medical Corporation. This last bath house is in danger of being demolished, but the Friends of Historic Preservation are working with the city to preserve it. The Olympia Salon & Spa, located in the Martha Washington Sanitarium on Cass Avenue, is again offering mineral baths. From about 1898 to 1950, the Mount Clemens Sugar Company operated, processing

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

s into refined sugar. Throughout the late 20th century, the suburban expansion of

metropolitan Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the official statistical areas ...

and its

exurbs An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and relatively hi ...

affected the city of Mt. Clemens as well as its surrounding townships.

Geography

Mount Clemens is in south-central Macomb County, northeast of

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 ...

, southwest of

Port Huron Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Por ...

, and west of

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair () is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day they first saw the lake. ...

. The

runs through the city. The city is almost completely surrounded by Clinton Township, except for the far east side which borders Harrison Township. 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 ...

, Mount Clemens has a total area of , of which are land and , or 2.69%, are water.

Climate

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 16,314 people, 6,714 households, and 3,542 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 7,582 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 70.0%

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 ...

, 24.8%

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, 0.5% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 3.6% 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 2.9% of the population. There were 6,714 households, of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.6% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.2% were non-families. 39.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age in the city was 38.3 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.9% were from 25 to 44; 27.8% were from 45 to 64; and 13% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.5% male and 48.5% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,312 people, 7,073 households, and 3,854 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 7,546 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 75.79%

, 19.61%

, 0.73% Native American, 0.49% 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 ...

, 0.76% from other races, and 2.59% from two or more races.

or Latino residents of any race were 2.33% of the population. There were 7,073 households, out of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.5% were non-families. 39.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.99. In the city, 21.6% of the population was under the age of 18, 9.0% was from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $37,856, and the median income for a family was $50,518. Males had a median income of $41,005 versus $27,896 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 $21,741. About 10.0% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.1% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

* The Anton Art Center is a community gallery located in a former Carnegie library. * The ''Mock Turtle Press'', and ''American Road Magazine'', are published in Mount Clemens. * The Emerald Theatre is a concert venue in Mount Clemens.

Government

The city government is composed of a mayor, the current being Laura Kropp, and a city council. The city has been facing financial hardships for some time. Approximately 42% of properties in the city are

tax-exempt Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

, resulting in lost revenue of $1.2 million. In an attempt to raise funds to combat a $960,000 budget deficit for 2010, former Mayor Barb Dempsey solicited donations to the city's general fund from tax-exempt organizations like churches, schools and a hospital, in order to pay for services like fire protection, streetlights and roads. The city already disbanded the 113-year-old police department in 2005 to cut costs. The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office now provides primary policing services in Mount Clemens. The deficit is projected to reach $1.5 million in 2011.

Education

Mount Clemens Community School District Mount Clemens Community Schools is a public school district in Macomb County, Michigan. It serves Mount Clemens and parts of Clinton Township and Harrison Township. History A union school district In some U.S. states, a union school d ...

operates public schools. ** Mount Clemens High School

Infrastructure

Transportation

* provides a connection northeast to

and 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 ...

, which is to the southwest. * runs through the center of Mount Clemens, roughly parallel to I-94 * (Hall Rd) passes north of the city limits, running west to Utica * (Groesbeck Hwy) passes through the west side of the city, roughly parallel to M-3

SMART ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingha ...

bus route 560/565 Gratiot.

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

provides Class 1 Freight service to Mount Clemens with the old Grand Trunk Western Detroit to Port Huron line.

Notable people

* Brian Adams, South Carolina state senator * Chauncey G. Cady, farmer and politician * Horace H. Cady, farmer and politician *

Dean Cain Dean George Cain ( né Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of '' Ripley's Believe It or Not! ...

, football player and actor * Harley High Cartter, lawyer and politician * Rickey Clark, baseball pitcher *

Dick Enberg Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including N ...

, sports announcer * Mike Fanning, football player *

Paul Feig Paul Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing films such as '' Bridesmaids'' (2011), '' The Heat'' (2013), '' Spy'' (2015), ''Ghostbusters'' (2016), '' A Si ...

, actor and director *

Adrienne Frantz Adrienne Danielle Frantz (born June 7, 1978) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She appeared as Amber Moore in ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (1997–2005, 2010–2012) and ''The Young and the Restless'' (2006–2010, 2013). Career ...

, actress and singer-songwriter * Rich Froning Jr., CrossFit athlete and coach *

Edward Tony Green Edward Anthony Green (born September 22, 1956) a.k.a. Tony "T. Money" Green is an American bass player, record producer, and award-winning songwriter well known for his work with Death Row Records, Dr. Dre, George Clinton, Five Special, Snoop Dog ...

, bass player *

Terrie Hall Terrie Linn McNutt Hall (July 19, 1960 – September 16, 2013) was an American anti-smoking and anti-tobacco advocate. She was a survivor of ten cancer diagnoses, undergoing 48 radiation treatments, and nearly a year's worth of chemotherapy, befor ...

, anti-smoking activist * Rufus Wilber Hitchcock, educator, newspaper editor, and Minnesota state legislator *

Ian Hornak Ian Hornak (January 9, 1944 – December 9, 2002) was an American draughtsman, painter and printmaker. He was one of the founding artists of the Hyperrealist and Photorealist fine art movements; credited with having been the first Photorea ...

, painter and printmakerStephen Bennett Phillips, Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz, "Ian Hornak Transparent Barricades," exhibition catalogue, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Fine Art Program, Washington D.C., 2012Joan Adan, Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz, "Transparent Barricades: Ian Hornak, A Retrospective," exhibition catalogue, Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, California, May 2012 * Mike Ignasiak, baseball pitcher *

Loraine Immen Loraine Immen (, Pratt; August 3, 1840 – October 21, 1927) was an American philanthropist, elocutionist, author, and social leader. She was a life fellow of the Society of Science, Letters and Art. Immen was one of the most active and best kno ...

, philanthropist, elocutionist, author, social leader *

Chuck Inglish Evan Ingersoll (born October 7, 1984), better known by his stage name Chuck Inglish, is an American rapper, producer and songwriter most known for being part of the hip hop duo The Cool Kids with Sir Michael Rocks. His debut album '' Convertible ...

, rapper *

Connie Kalitta Conrad Kalitta (born February 24, 1938) is an American businessman and former drag racing driver, nicknamed "the Bounty Hunter." Kalitta is the CEO of Kalitta Air and the owner of Kalitta Motorsports.

, drag racing driver * Scott Kamieniecki, baseball pitcher * David Kircus, football player *

Arnold Klein Arnold William Klein (February 27, 1945 – October 22, 2015) was an American dermatologist. In the infancy of the AIDS epidemic, Klein became one of the first doctors in Los Angeles to diagnose a case of Kaposi's sarcoma in a young patient. He a ...

, dermatologist for Michael Jackson *

Tracy Leslie Tracy Leslie (born October 24, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last raced in the ARCA Racing Series against his son, Billy. He also raced in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series. Early caree ...

, NASCAR driver * George F. Lewis, journalist and newspaper proprietor *

John Lutz John Michael Lutz (born April 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', and for his work as a writer on the NBC series ''Saturday Night Live'' for seven ...

, television writer and actor *

Tommy Milton Thomas Willard Milton (November 14, 1893 – July 10, 1962) was an American racing driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. In spite of having only one functional eye, Milton came to be known as one of the finest ra ...

, racing driver * Owen Murphy, songwriter and Broadway musical composer and lyricist * Frank Nazar, ice hockey player *

Dan Nugent Daniel Lawrence Nugent (August 22, 1953 – October 18, 2001) was an American professional football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Auburn University. Early life ...

, football player * Lawrence B. Schook, academic *

Richard A. Searfoss Richard Alan "Rick" Searfoss (June 5, 1956 – September 29, 2018) was an American aviator who was United States Air Force colonel, NASA astronaut and test pilot. Early life Searfoss was born on June 5, 1956, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, but had ...

, astronaut *

Lary Sorensen Lary Alan Sorensen (born October 4, 1955) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1977–1980), St. Louis Cardinals (1981), Cleveland Indians (1982–1983), Oakland Athletics (1984), Chicago ...

, baseball pitcher * Eric Spoutz, art dealer *

Uncle Kracker Matthew Shafer (born June 6, 1974), also known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American singer and musician. He was previously a turntablist for Kid Rock's backing group Twisted Brown Trucker; since 1999, he has recorded as a solo artis ...

(Matthew Shafer), singer-songwriter *

Allen Henry Vigneron Allen Henry Vigneron (born October 21, 1948) is an American Catholic prelate who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan and ecclesiastical superior of the Cayman Islands from 2008 to 2025. Vigneron previously served as ...

, Roman Catholic bishop *

Wally Weber Walter J. Weber (February 27, 1903 – April 14, 1984) was an American football player and coach at the University of Michigan. He played halfback and fullback for the Wolverines in 1925 and 1926 on the same teams as Benny Friedman and Bennie O ...

, football player and coach

References

External links

* {{Authority control County seats in Michigan Cities in Macomb County, Michigan Metro Detroit Populated places established in 1799 1799 establishments in the Northwest Territory