New Baltimore is a city in Macomb 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, ...

. The population was 12,117 at the 2020 census. New Baltimore is a northern suburb of

Metro 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 Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

and is located along the northern shores 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. ...

History

New Baltimore incorporated as a village in 1867 and as a city in 1931. Republished in 1979 by the New Baltimore Public Library. Previously, it was split between Macomb and St. Clair counties; however, in the 1970s, the city was able to petition to adjust the county boundaries such that it would align with the city's eastern border. This placed New Baltimore completely in Macomb County, where it remains to this day. The town sits on the waterfront along Lake St. Clair's Anchor Bay, and offers a public park, beach, and downtown-shopping district. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, indigenous tribes are known to have inhabited much of New Baltimore's shoreline for thousands of years, and in the 1800s the land was recorded to have many ancient burial mounds and man made earth-works. W.B Hinsdale excavated multiple sites in New Baltimore, and recorded his countless findings in his novels in the early 20th century. Most of these locations have long been destroyed by treasure hunters and developed over, with an unfortunate though seemingly familiar lack of regard to the public's knowledge of the city's vast history with indigenous tribes. German explorer Pierre Yax (b.1763) in Grosse Pointe, New France (now Michigan) was the first recorded non-Native American in the New Baltimore area.Detroit in Its World Setting: A Three Hundred Year Chronology, 1701-2001 edited by David Lee Poremba Pierre Yax was a son of Johan Michael Jacks, the first German in what would eventually become the state of Michigan. Pierre Yax arrived in New Baltimore in 1796 and subsequently obtained a land grant signed by President John Quincy Adams on July 23, 1826. The land grant tracked back to a land patent Yax had in 1812, when Michigan was still part of the Michigan Territory. Later, other French settlers came to this area and took residence along the waterfront and rivers. They developed farms that had narrow frontage of 400 of 900 feet and extended inland from the water. Generally, the depth of the parcel was determined by how far a man could plow or cultivate in a day. The first evidence of a settled community came in 1845, when a Mount Clemens businessman, Alfred Ashley, platted of land lying on both sides of Washington Street. This would become known as the village of Ashley. On September 20, 1851, a post office called Ashleyville was established with Ashley as postmaster. Ashley also opened businesses in lumbering, shipping, and real estate. The original village of Ashley occupied what is now the center part of downtown New Baltimore, extending northwest along Clay, Base and Maria Streets from Anchor Bay. The land was subdivided in the typical gridiron fashion used in most American communities at that time. Over the years, irregularities developed in the gridiron subdivision pattern because of the lack of local controls, conflicts with French claims, and changing land uses, particularly along the waterfront area. This created problems in both subdivision patterns in general and waterfront use in particular that remain today. This original settlement bore Ashley's name until 1867, when the village name was changed to New Baltimore. Throughout its history, New Baltimore has been linked to the regional economy by virtue of the city's access to the waterfront and the region's transportation network. In its early years, New Baltimore took advantage of its waterfront location to operate port facilities exporting agriculture and manufacturing products to other communities. The area was known for the manufacturing of barrels, brooms, bricks, coffins, corsets, and creamery products. Lumber products and building materials were shipped by boat from the local mills. Development was heavily oriented to the waterfront, where shipping piers extended a hundred or more feet into the lake. As automobile transportation increased in importance and travel patterns changed, so did the development of the city. Goods were no longer shipped by water and the waterfront slowly changed. Between 1860 and 1880, New Baltimore changed from a strong manufacturing and exporting community to a thriving community in Macomb County with many resort activities and well-known commercial establishments. The community was a popular getaway spot for Metro Detroiters and boasted an opera house, hotels, salt baths (which nearby city of Mount Clemens was famous for in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), summer and winter recreational activities, saloons, a brewery and numerous resort and commercial establishments. The city was in the path of a steam locomotive line that ran between

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 Port Huron in the late 19th century. As technology changed, the city constructed an electricity plant to accommodate inter-urban passenger trains, which lasted until the mid-1920s. Today, access to the city is provided via

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

. The historic New Baltimore water tower was demolished in the summer of 2015 and raised in the park to take its place was the State's tallest flag. The flagpole stands at 160 feet tall on the shores of Anchor Bay at Walter and Mary Burke Park. The New Baltimore Lions Club raised more than $100,000 to have the flagpole installed with the intention of creating a landmark for boaters after the city's historic water tower was demolished. A dedication ceremony took place in October 2016.

Geography

New Baltimore is in eastern Macomb County, with its eastern border following the St. Clair County line. It is on the northern shore of Anchor Bay, the northernmost part of

. Highway M-29 passes through the city as Main Street, leading east to Algonac on the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part ...

and west to

in Chesterfield Township. New Baltimore is northeast of Mount Clemens, the Macomb

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. 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 are land and , or 31.6%, are water.

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 12,084 people, 4,434 households, and 3,187 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 4,740 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.4%

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 ...

, 2.7%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.4% 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 1.8% of the population. There were 4,434 households, of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% 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, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.1% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.25. The median age in the city was 37.1 years. 28.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.6% were from 25 to 44; 25.1% were from 45 to 64; and 9.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 7,405 people, 2,942 households, and 1,994 families living in the city. The

was . There were 3,218 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.89%

, 0.53%

, 0.36% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 0.46% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.34% of the population. There were 2,942 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were

living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the city was $60,699, and the median income for a family was $72,046. Males had a median income of $49,648 versus $33,083 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 $26,921. About 1.0% of families and 3.5% 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 1.3% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government

New Baltimore is a home-rule city with an elected mayor and six at-large council members. Since 2022, Tom Semaan has served as mayor. The city of New Baltimore is within the boundaries of the Anchor Bay School District, and hosts Lighthouse Elementary, Ashley Elementary, Anchor Bay Middle School North, and Anchor Bay's Aquatic Center.

Michigan's largest flag

Since 2016 the focal point of the community has been Michigan's largest flag and tallest flagpole. The pole is high and the American flag it holds is and sits on the edge of Lake Saint Clair's Anchor Bay. The $103,000 cost was paid for with donations led by an initial contribution of $10,000 by the New Baltimore

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

.https://www.voicenews.com/news/with-photos-state-s-tallest-flagpole-unveiled-in-new-baltimore/article_d9fe6be7-7363-5313-b37e-c4be3a631987.html#:~:text=Members%20of%20Lempke%2DBlackwell%20VFW,Michigan%20for%20its%20initial%20display.&text=New%20Baltimore%20is%20now%20home%20to%20the%20state's%20tallest%20flagpole.&text=The%20project%20cost%20%24103%2C000%2C%20raised,the%20New%20Baltimore%20Lions%20Club.

Notable people

* Butch Hartman,

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

* Roy Kellerman, Secret Service agent * Kathleen Rose Perkins, actress * Claudia Schmidt, folk singer * Tom Stanton, writer

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Macomb County, Michigan Populated places established in 1867 1867 establishments in Michigan Michigan populated places on Lake St. Clair