Westland, Michigan
Westland, Michigan
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Westland, Michigan

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2282312

Westland, Michigan

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Westland, Michigan

Westland is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Westland is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of downtown Detroit. As of 2022, the city had a population of 84,037.

During the 18th century, the area was inhabited by the people of a Potawatomi Native American village. Other tribes, particularly three Algonquian tribes, used the area as hunting territory. Though white settlers did not begin to settle the area until about 1824, they began passing through at the beginning of the 19th century.

Before becoming Westland, the area had several other names. In 1827, the area became known as Bucklin Township, which included what is now the cities of Westland, Livonia, Garden City, Inkster, Wayne, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Redford Township. In 1829, it was proposed that Bucklin Township be divided into Lima and Richland; the former is what eventually became Westland. Due to name conflicts under territorial law prohibiting duplication of post office names, Lima was renamed Nankin Township, after the Chinese city of Nanking, and Richland was renamed Pekin Township, after Peking.

Nankin Township was mostly rural until World War II. The Norwayne subdivision is one of the oldest areas of the city, having existed for over 65 years. The area was built immediately after World War II to provide temporary housing for returning soldiers who worked in nearby factories.

By 1960, Nankin Township's population had increased to 70,000, giving the area the distinction of being the state's largest township. During the early 1960s, the city of Livonia wanted to annex the part of Nankin in which a large shopping mall, Westland Shopping Center, was to be built. The shopping center eventually opened in 1965, joining Northland and Eastland malls in Southfield and Harper Woods, respectively. In reaction to Livonia's annexation attempts, the people of Nankin Township voted on May 16, 1966, to take all other territory to form the City Of Westland. At that time, it was the fourth largest city in Wayne County.

The current mayor of Westland is Kevin Coleman. The legislative body of Westland is the City Council, which contains seven members. The current president of the city council is Mike McDermott. Other council members are Council President Pro-Tem Melissa Sampey, Peter Herzberg, Emily Bauman, James Hart, Andrea Rutkowski, and 1 vacant seat (to be appointed March 2024).

Westland and the city of Wayne form the Wayne-Westland Community School District. There are four high schools, John Glenn, Wayne Westland Community High School (formerly Tinkham Alternative Education), and William D. Ford Career Technical Center in Westland, and Wayne Memorial in Wayne. There is a historical site, Perrinsville School in Westland on Warren Road. Nearly all students that live in the city of Wayne go to Wayne Memorial High School, along with some residents of Van Buren Township, Inkster, Romulus, Canton and southern Westland. Students in central Westland and portions of northern Westland, as well as isolated areas of neighboring Inkster and Canton, attend John Glenn High School. The northernmost portions of Westland are in the Livonia Public Schools district.

Portions of Westland that had been in the Taylor School District prior to the 2013 dissolution of the Inkster School District are assigned to Taylor Parks Elementary School, Hoover Middle School, and Harry S. Truman High School in Taylor.

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