Lincoln Park, Michigan

Lincoln Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It lies in an area of cities and communities known as Downriver. The population was 38,144 at the 2010 census ^[1][2][3]. The settlement was organized as a village in 1921, and reorganized as a city in 1925. The area was originally home to the Potawatomi Indians who ceded the land to a French settler, Pierre St. Cosme, in 1776. It developed as a bedroom community, providing homes to workers in the nearby steel mills and automobile plants of the Detroit area while having no industry within its bounds.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total of 5.8 square miles (15 km²), all land. The north and south branches of the Ecorse River run through Lincoln Park and join just before leaving the city.

Lincoln Park borders the cities of Detroit, Allen Park, Melvindale, Ecorse, Wyandotte and Southgate.

History

Long before Lincoln Park was incorporated as a city, an area adjacent to the Ecorse River was the site of a pivotal meeting during Pontiac's Rebellion. On April 27, 1763, a council of several American Indian tribes from the Detroit region listened to a speech from the Ottawa leader Pontiac. Pontiac urged the listeners to join him in a surprise attack on Fort Detroit, which they attempted on May 9. Today, the area is known as Council Point Park, and a small engraved boulder marks the site of the historic meeting.

Neighborhoods were first laid out in what is today Lincoln Park in 1906. It was incorporated as a town in 1921 and as a city in 1925.^[6]

Preston Tucker, famous for his controversial financing and development of the revolutionary 1948 Tucker Sedan, grew up in Lincoln Park in the early 1900s. Tucker joined the Lincoln Park Police Department in his early years to gain access to the high performance cars the department used. Tucker is the subject of the 1988 movie Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

Lincoln Park gained brief notoriety in 1999 when the school board enacted a new dress code intended to keep out gang symbology and colors. However, included among the prohibited paraphernalia were any items related to the "pagan" or "goth" lifestyle/fashion sense, including most notably, representations of the pentagram. The decision sparked animosity between the administration and the students and teachers, who generally saw it as an excessive measure given gang activity in the school had been largely eliminated in the late 1990s. This animosity culminated in legal action against the school initiated by the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of Crystal Seifferly, a 17 year old high school student who self-identified as a practicing pagan. Under mounting pressure from the courts and media, the administration formally made an exception in the policy for practicing witches, though informally it dropped the matter. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}

In September 2006, the same school board made another attempt, banning clothing with any writing.

On February 20, 2001, Tempest Smith, another Lincoln Park student with an interest in Wicca, hanged herself after being bullied in the middle school.^[11]

Singer/songwriter Bob Seger was for a time a student at Anderson High School. In his song, "Back in '72," he sings the line, "But we got homesick for Lincoln Park."

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2010, there were 38,144 people, 16,204 households, and 10,581 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,834.9 per square mile (2,640.5/km²). There were 16,821 housing units at an average density of 2,873.7 per square mile (1,110.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73% White, 6.07% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.82% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. 15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 16,204 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $22,515, and the median income for a family was $29,747. Males had a median income of $10,197 versus $6,549 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,140. About 40.1% of families and 44.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.3% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The city's education system is served by the Lincoln Park Public Schools primarily serving its 19,700 people under the age of 18. The district includes Lincoln Park High School, Lincoln Park Middle School, Carr Elementary, Foote Elementary, Hoover Elementary, Keppen Elementary, Lafayette Elementary, Mixter Elementary, Paun Elementary, and Raupp Elementary.

References

External links

• City of Lincoln Park official website
• YourLincolnPark.com, community website
• Lincoln Park Historical Society