Local History

The first known settler was Richard Ford who built his cabin upon the highland for which the town was eventually named, a ridge later leveled when Woodward Avenue was put through from Detroit (it was then some six miles northwest of the city, but is now completely surrounded by it).

Judge Augustus B. Woodward (see Detroit for photo of Judge Woodward) bought the ridge in 1818 and platted the village of Woodwardville in 1825.  His plans failed as did those of Judge Benjamin F. Witherell, who attempted to found a village on this site in 1836.  The settlement was given a post office as Whitewood on February 12, 1873.  The office was renamed Highland Park on June 27, 1889, but closed on April 30, 1909 when it became a branch of the Detroit post office.

The successful promotion of the town is credited to William H. Stevens and Henry Ford's building a factory here in 1909.  Incorporated as a village in 1889 and as a city in 1917.

Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.

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