New Haven is a village in Lenox Township within Macomb 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, ...

. The population was 6,097 at the 2020 census, up from 4,642 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

History

Origins and early history

The first settlers in the New Haven area were chiefly the Native Americans of the Ojibwa/Cherokee tribe. The Swan Creek Chippewa is a predominant segment of the tribe. French settlers came to the area in 1835 when the first land was purchased from the federal government. The settlement was originally called "New Baltimore Station" because of the

Grand Trunk Western Railroad The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company was an American subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway, later of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad ha ...

depot located there that did its main commerce with the village of New Baltimore, on Anchor Bay 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. ...

and at the other end of the New Haven/

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

plank road (also known as the Ashley/Romeo Plank Road) that served the area. The portion of the plank road that went through the village became the main road of New Haven. This road changes its name a few times, becoming Main Street in New Haven and Washington Street in New Baltimore. The Grand Trunk Western railroad company that built the railroad station in 1865 handled freight, livestock, and later farm goods shipped by rail throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. The depot had a living quarters for the station agent and his family at one end. With rounded windows in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style, it was similar to the Smiths Creek depot that is now in Greenfield Village. The depot is still located in its original location, one of the few in the Midwest that can claim that distinction. It has been restored as the village museum. New Haven received its first post office on January 6, 1838, and Charles B. Matthews was the postmaster. Adam Bennett was the most active organizer of the village in its earliest days. Benjamin L. Bates was elected as the first village president when the village of New Haven was incorporated on May 3, 1869. New Haven is the largest incorporated area in Lenox Township of Macomb County. By around 1875, early industries in the village of New Haven included a general store, a sawmill, an iron foundry, a creamery, hardware store, a roller place that made flour, a farm supply business, two doctors, three flour, seed, and feed businesses, two garages to repair carriages and machinery of the day, a grocery and meat shop, a dry goods store, a drug store, a cooper (barrel) shop, two blacksmiths, two shoe and boot stores, a harness shop, a stove shop, two wagon shops, a livery stable, and a hotel chiefly known as the Graustark Hotel. By the early 1900s, New Haven had electricity produced in a power house located on the north side of Ann Street, owned by Frank Phelps, also the owner of one of the first motorcars in the village. He had the dynamo that produced enough electricity to light the whole village located in the back of his building, originally called the Old Power House. In the front of the building he sold ice cream, candy and other items such as oyster stew. He would also project movies on weekend nights. He would use a large screen secured between two poles to project silent films (with phonograph accompaniment) to the townspeople. New Haven built their own water system in 1945. In 1948, the New Haven Public Library was formed. New Haven had a few newspapers in its history. It appears that the village had two newspapers during 1895. The Saturday, January 12, 1895, issue (Vol. I, No. 19) of ''The Advance'' was published by T.A. Barnard. Single issues cost three cents; a yearly subscription could be had for a dollar. The Friday, November 22, 1895, issue of ''The Weekly Star'' (Vol. I, No. 27), was published by Herman Burose & Co., and in 1912 there was ''The People's Advocate''. From 1919 to 1924 there was ''The New Haven Star''. In the 1940s, there was the ''New Haven Herald'', eventually purchased by the ''Anchor Bay Beacon'' of New Baltimore. In 2017, New Haven High School won a Michigan championship basketball game.

Geography

New Haven is in eastern Macomb County, northeast of Mount Clemens, the

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 ...

, and southwest of Port Huron. Highway M-19 passes through the east side of the village, leading south to Exit 247 on

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 ...

and northeast to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. 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 village of New Haven has a total area of , of which , or 0.04%, are water. The Salt River passes through the east side of the village, flowing south to

at Point Lakeview.

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 4,642 people, 1,552 households, and 1,160 families residing in the village. 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 1,695 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 76.3%

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 ...

, 16.9%

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, 0.5% Asian, 0.1%

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 ...

, 1.3% from other races, and 4.5% 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 4.8% of the population. There were 1,552 households, of which 49.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% 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, 19.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 25.3% were non-families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.40. The median age in the village was 31.1 years. 33% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 32.4% were from 25 to 44; 20.8% were from 45 to 64; and 6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.5% male and 51.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 3,071 people, 1,064 households, and 785 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,138 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 74.86%

, 18.95%

, 0.72% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.98% from other races, and 4.40% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 3.81% of the population. There were 1,064 households, out of which 44.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were

living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.24. In the village, the population dispersal was 32.3% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 33.7% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $40,699, and the median income for a family was $45,523. Males had a median income of $39,375 versus $26,321 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 village was $16,739. About 10.4% of families and 14.5% 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 15.6% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Romeo Weems, professional basketball player

References

* Falk, Laura (1980) ''New Haven, Reflections of a Unique Village.'' Romeo, MI: Anderson Printing Co., Inc.

External links

*
New Haven Community Schools
{{authority control Villages in Macomb County, Michigan Villages in Michigan Populated places established in 1901