Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac (/ˈpɒn(t)iæk/ PON-(t)ee-ak) is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly 26 miles (41.8 km) northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, and is variously described as a satellite city or suburb of Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 61,606.

Founded in 1818, Pontiac was the second European-American organized settlement in Michigan near Detroit, after Dearborn. It was named after Obwaandi'eyaag (Pontiac), a war chief of the Odawa, who occupied the area before the European settlers. The city was best known for its General Motors automobile manufacturing plants of the 20th century, which were the basis of its economy and contributed to the wealth of the region. These included Fisher Body, Pontiac East Assembly (a.k.a. Truck & Coach/Bus), which manufactured GMC products, and the Pontiac Motor Division. In the city's heyday, it was the site of the primary automobile assembly plant for the production of the famed Pontiac cars, a brand that was named after the city. The Pontiac brand itself was discontinued in 2010 by General Motors. The City of Pontiac also was home to Oakland Motor Car Company, which was acquired by General Motors in 1909.

In 1975, the city built the Pontiac Silverdome, the stadium that hosted the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1975 to 2001, when the team returned to Downtown Detroit at Ford Field. Super Bowl XVI was played at the Silverdome in 1982. After 2001, the stadium continued to be used for concerts and other events until it was demolished in 2018. It is now the site of an Amazon Fulfillment and Distribution facility.

Present-day Pontiac, Michigan was traversed for thousands of years by indigenous peoples due to the confluence of the Saginaw Trail and the Nottawassippi River; the river's indigenous name was replaced with the Clinton River name by settlers coming from New York State where DeWitt Clinton served as Governor. The Saginaw Trail was an important land trail route for indigenous peoples that ran from the Saginaw Bay in Michigan to the Detroit River in present-day Detroit.

Early European expeditions into the land north of Detroit described the area as having "extreme sterility and barrenness". Developments and exploration were soon to prove that report false.

The first European-American settlers arrived in what is now the city of Pontiac in 1818. They followed the Saginaw Trail north from Detroit and determined the settlement should be where the trail and the river crossed. Two years later the fledgling settlement was designated as the county seat for Oakland County, due in part to the Michigan Territorial Governor Lewis Cass being receptive to the lobbying of The Pontiac Company's members that their recently acquired property was ideal for the county seat location.

The Pontiac Company, consisting of 15 members and chaired by Solomon Sibley of Detroit, comprised the first landowners in Pontiac. Sibley, along with Stephen Mack and Shubael Conant, Pontiac Company members, also formed the partnership Mack, Conant & Sibley to develop a town. Solomon and his wife Sarah Sibley largely financed construction of the first buildings. While Solomon was the first chair of the Pontiac Company, for two years Sarah Sibley was the most active as the go-between with settlers at Pontiac. Solomon Sibley was constantly traveling as a Territorial Congressman and later a Territorial Supreme Court judge. The Sibley-Hoyt house, thought to be one of the first structures in Pontiac, is preserved by its private owner.

In the 1820s Elizabeth Denison, an unmarried, free black woman, worked for the Sibleys. They helped her buy land in Pontiac in 1825. Stephen Mack, agent for the Pontiac Company, signed the deed at the request of the Sibleys, conveying 48.5 acres to Elizabeth Denison. She is believed to be the first black woman to purchase land in the new territory of Michigan.