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Rochester Hills, Michigan

Rochester Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 76,300.[4] It is the 14th-largest city in Michigan.[5]

Rochester Hills, Michigan

United States

1817

1835 (Avon Township)

1984 (City of Rochester Hills)

Leanne Scott

32.90 sq mi (85.22 km2)

32.80 sq mi (84.96 km2)

0.10 sq mi (0.25 km2)

820 ft (250 m)

76,300

2,325.94/sq mi (898.06/km2)

4,296,250 (Metro Detroit)

UTC-4 (EDT)

48306–48309

26-69035[2]

1675440[3]

The area was first settled by European Americans in 1817, and organized as Avon Township in 1835. The City of Rochester incorporated in 1967, while the remaining area of Avon Township was incorporated and renamed the City of Rochester Hills in 1984. Considered a northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Rochester Hills is about 12 miles (19.3 km) north of Detroit.

Stony Creek is a neighborhood on the northeast end of the city on the border with at 42°41′46″N 83°06′43″W / 42.69611°N 83.11194°W / 42.69611; -83.11194.[6]

Rochester

Yates is on the boundary with and Shelby Township, Oakland County (42°40′25″N 83°05′45″W / 42.67361°N 83.09583°W / 42.67361; -83.09583 ; Elevation: 669 ft./204 m.).[7]

Rochester

History[edit]

Prior to European settlement, the area now known as Rochester Hills was inhabited by Native Americans, namely the Potawatomi.[8] The Potawatomi depended on the area's abundant water sources, such as the Clinton River and Paint Creek, to grow crops, fish, and travel.[8][9] They resided here until the 1807 Treaty of Detroit caused them, along with the Odawa, Wyandot, and Ojibwe peoples, to cede their land in Southeast Michigan.[10][11]


The first European settler was James Graham who arrived in 1817. Graham and his family reached the area by following trails created by the Sauk Native Americans.[12][13] Avon Township was organized in 1835. Rochester incorporated as a village within the township in 1869. The township adopted a charter in 1948 under the Home Rule Act. Also in 1948 a post office was established under the name of Brooklands for the area between Auburn Road and Hamlin Road just to the west of Dequindre Road.[14]


In 1966, village residents voted to become the City of Rochester, effective in February 1967. As a result, Rochester residents no longer had to pay property taxes to the township, as it was now a separate municipality.


In 1967, Avon Township filed a petition to become a city. In January 1968, township voters approved the petition to move forward with seeking city status. Three proposed city charters were voted down by residents, the first in March 1969, the second in May 1970, and the third in September 1971. The city of Rochester then sought to annex all of the township, which was unanimously denied by the Michigan Boundary Commission. In 1972, petitions were filed to consolidate Avon Township and Rochester. In April 1974, the consolidation petition lost by 350 votes in the township, while passing by four votes in Rochester. In May 1974, Rochester's petition to annex 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2) of Avon Township was approved by the Michigan Boundary Commission, depriving Avon Township of its largest taxpayer.[15] The township became Avon Charter Township in August 1978. Court challenges to the 1974 annexation continued until November 1981, when the township was ordered to surrender the annexed property. An impending annexation request from the City of Troy, due south, for 300 acres of southeast Avon Township brought the cityhood question to a crisis.[15]


In May 1984, township voters approved a city charter. On November 20, 1984, Avon Township became the City of Rochester Hills. The name of the new city was put to a vote, with the other choice being "Avon Hills." The name "Rochester Hills" won by a landslide with voters, based on the area's historical ties to Rochester and the rolling hills in the area. Township Supervisor Earl E. Borden became the first mayor of Rochester Hills.

Education[edit]

Rochester Community Schools serve most of the city. Rochester Adams High School, Rochester High School, and Stoney Creek High School are in Rochester Hills. The city also hosts college and graduate-level programs in various disciplines at Oakland University and Rochester Christian University.


Some portions of the city, however, are in the Avondale School District. Much of the ASD portion of Rochester Hills is zoned to Deerfield Elementary School, also within the city. Other portions are zoned to Auburn Elementary School in Auburn Hills and Woodland Elementary School in Troy. All ASD residents are zoned to Avondale Middle School in Rochester Hills and Avondale High School in Auburn Hills. The Meadows School, Avondale Academy, and the ASD transportation department are all in Rochester Hills.[24]


City services include Rochester Hills Public Library. (The neighboring City of Rochester and Oakland Township contract with the City of Rochester Hills to permit their residents' use of the library.)


The Japanese School of Detroit, a supplementary school for Japanese citizens of school age, at one time had its administrative offices in the former Oakland Steiner School in Rochester Hills.[25]

politician

Mike Bishop

professional drummer

Tommy Clufetos

professional basketball player

Paul Davis

professional football player

Eric Fisher

artist and writer

Hal Foster

professional tennis player[26]

Amy Frazier

professional baseball player[27]

Jay Gibbons

professional baseball player

Andrew Good

playwright, poet, activist, professor

Idris Goodwin

professional baseball player

Shawn Hare

fantasy artists and painters of the original Star Wars movie poster

Greg and Tim Hildebrandt

television and radio personality

Rude Jude

professional football player

George Jamison

NASCAR driver

Bob Keselowski

NASCAR driver

Brad Keselowski

NASCAR driver

Brian Keselowski

professional football player

Walt Kowalczyk

country music singer and actress

Jana Kramer

pop singer and actress

Madonna

professional hockey player

Alec Martinez

lead singer of Chiodos and Cinematic Sunrise

Craig Owens

drummer of Vixen

Roxy Petrucci

marathoner

Brian Sell

politician

Haley Stevens

educator, artist, writer and filmmaker

Ron Teachworth

burlesque artist, model and actress[28]

Dita von Teese

hockey player

Jacob Trouba

Olympic gold medal swimmer[29]

Peter Vanderkaay

professional baseball player

Jason Varitek

physicist and mathematician[30]

Robert Simpson Woodward

NASA astronaut and Marine Corps pilot

George Zamka

This list includes people from Rochester and Rochester Hills:

Romig, Walter (October 1, 1986) [1973]. Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities (Paperback). Great Lakes Books Series. Detroit, Michigan: . ISBN 978-0-8143-1838-6.

Wayne State University Press

City of Rochester Hills

Rochester Public Library