Page 92 - Northville Township

Northville Township Today Report

Northville Township

Setting and Context 1800s

Located in the northwest corner of Wayne County, as 1823 First land patent in the Northville area is granted to
1
seen on Map 3, Regional Context, Northville Township is Gideon Benton.
approximately 26 miles from downtown Detroit, and 20 1898 Northville Township is established after splitting off
miles north of the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County from the Village of Northville (incorporated 1867).
Airport. The Township is part of the greater Detroit metro
area. Originally within Plymouth Township, as seen on 1900s
Maps 1 and 2, the Northville community (which consists 1919 Maybury Sanatorium, home of a tuberculosis hospital
of the City of Northville and Northville Township) began built by the City of Detroit for patient recovery,
as the Village of Northville in the 1820s and ultimately occupies 40 buildings between Seven and Eight Mile
split from Plymouth into a separate township. Northville Roads at Beck and Napier Roads.
Township was officially founded in 1898 and became a 1925 Ford Gauge Plant, a water-powered plant producing
charter township in 1985. Due to its split from Plymouth Johannson gauge blocks, opens at Northville Road
Township, Northville Township is approximately half of a and Mill Street. This was one of 19 small Ford Village
typical township plat, which is 36 square miles. Northville Industry plants built in southeast Michigan. 2
Township is just over 16 square miles in size. 1926 Wayne County Training School opens at Five Mile
and Sheldon Roads, and serves as a home for
As seen on Map 4, Northville Community, Northville developmentally disabled children.
Township has multiple east-west streets named 1952 Northville State Psychiatric Hospital opens on over
numerically (Five Mile, Six Mile, Seven Mile, and Eight 400 acres of wooded land, along Seven Mile Road.
Mile) and key north-south streets, the majority of which This facility could house over 1,000 patients and was
extend from the northern boundary to the southern considered the most cutting-edge facility when it
boundary of the Township. Beck Road and Haggerty opened. 3
Road are two of the busier north-south corridors, as seen 1954 Ford Gauge Plant closes and is sold.
through maps provided in the Transportation section of 1969 Maybury Sanatorium closes.
this Report. Although they are just east of the Township, 1974 Wayne County Training School closes.
Interstates 275 and 96 serve as a physical versus 1975 Maybury State Park opens at the former site of the
jurisdictional boundary for the area. These interstates Maybury Sanatorium.
touch the southeastern corner of the Township, and form 1985 Northville Township becomes a Charter Township.
a large interchange with State Highway 14 just south of 1998 Wayne County Training School is demolished.
the Township. State Highway 14 runs east-west, parallel
to Five Mile Road, the Township’s southern boundary. 2000s
Northville Township is bordered by Plymouth Township to 2003 Northville State Psychiatric Hospital closes.
the south, Salem Township to the west, the City of Novi 2007 Most recent Master Plan is adopted.
and City of Northville to the north, and City of Livonia to 2012 The Seven Mile Road Park Master Plan is adopted
the east. by the Board of Trustees and provides a 30-50 year

The “Northville Community” refers to the City of roadmap for phased development at the former
Northville and Northville Township. This term may be Northville State Psychiatric Hospital Site. 4
used at times throughout the Master Plan as some 2015 The Michigan International Technology Corridor
services are jointly provided by the City and Township Redevelopment Authority is formed to capture
and some data is collected community-wide. Information tax revenues to clean up properties on the MITC
regarding the Northville community as a whole will be site located at the southwest corner of Northville
specified throughout the Plan, where used; otherwise, Township. 5
this Plan focuses on Northville Township. 1 https://pocketsights.com/tours/tour/Northville-Northville-Heritage-Hike-6121
2 https://northvilletownshiphistoricfund.org/lost-history
Northville Township had 31,758 residents as of the 2020 3 https://opacity.us/site194_northville_state_hospital.htm
Census, up from 28,497 in 2010. The Northville Township 4 https://www.twp.northville.mi.us/business/economic-development/legacy-park-seven-
mile-property
Today Profile on the following pages presents additional 5 https://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/2022/02/09/long-dormant-northville-
data about residents of the Township. township-property-get-new-life/6563974001/

88 NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP Master Plan