Wayne County, Michigan
Wayne County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the United States Census placed its population at 1,793,561 making it the 19th-most populous county in the United States. The county seat is Detroit. The county was founded in 1796 and organized in 1815. Wayne County is included in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is one of several U.S. counties named after Revolutionary War-era general Anthony Wayne. History. Wayne County was the sixth county in the Northwest Territory, formed August 15, 1796 from portions of  territorial Hamilton County, territorial Knox County and unorganized territory. It was named for the U.S. general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. It originally encompassed the entire area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, most of the Upper Peninsula, as well as smaller sections that are now part of northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. By proclamation of the Territorial Secretary and Acting Governor, Winthrop Sargent, on August 15, 1796, the boundaries of Wayne County were declared to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River then west to Fort Wayne, then to the southernmost point of Lake Michigan and along the western  shore north to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior and then along the territorial boundary through Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie back to the starting point. The first division of the county into townships occurred November 1, 1798, into the four townships of Detroit, Hamtramck, Mackinaw, and Sargent. The extent of Wayne county at that time included all the present state of Michigan in addition to parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin, so that the townships erected at that time were vastly larger than the corresponding divisions of the present time. On January 14, 1803, the Governor  of Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison, issued a similar proclamation defining the boundaries as beginning at a point where an east and west line passing through the southernmost extreme of Lake Michigan would intersect a north and south line, passing through the westernmost extreme of the lake, then north to the territorial boundary, then along said boundary line to a point where an east and west line passing through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan would intersect the same, then along this last mentioned line to the place of beginning. This boundary would include Chicago, Illinois and a sizable strip  of Wisconsin along Lake Michigan. These boundaries would be adjusted as Indiana and Illinois became states and as other counties were formed within Michigan Territory. Geography. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (9.0%) is water. Its water area includes parts of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Wayne County borders on Oakland County and Macomb County to the north, Washtenaw County to the west, Essex County, Ontario, Canada to the east, and Monroe County to the south. The eastern (and sometimes southern) boundary is a water boundary  in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair with Essex County, Ontario. Automotive traffic crosses this boundary at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge. Due to the southwestern course of the river, this small portion of Canada actually lies to the south of Wayne County. The southern communities of the county are usually referred to as "Downriver", in reference to their location downstream of downtown Detroit. Grosse Ile is the largest island in Wayne County and is connected to the mainland by the Wayne County Bridge and the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge. Transportation. Wayne County Department of Public  Services. The Wayne County Department of Public Services was formed in 1906 as the Wayne County Road Commission. It was the government agency in Wayne County, Michigan responsible for building and maintaining the county's roads and highways. Its first commissioners were Edward N. Hines, Cassius R. Benton, and automobile manufacturer Henry Ford. While the commission was authorized by an 80% positive vote of county voters in a 1906 referendum, it was controversial and there was a Michigan state supreme court case pressed which found it unconstitutional. Commissioners Benton and Ford quit, but commissioner Hines persisted and led the commission  through reorganization getting around the obstacles. Hines was a commissioner continuously from 1906 to 1938. Hines is credited with the idea of putting a painted line down a roadway's center to divide traffic, and other innovations that were later widely adopted. The commission claims credit for constructing the country's first mile of concrete-paved rural highway, a section of Woodward Avenue" just outside the Detroit city limits. A number of the county road commissions' works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The county road commission was merged into the general county government, becoming the Roads  Division of the Department of Public Services. Demographics. 2020 census. "Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race." 2010 Census. The 2010 United States Census indicates Wayne County had a 2010 population of 1,820,584. This is a decrease of 240,578 people from the 2000 United States Census. Overall, the county had an -11.7% growth rate during this ten-year period. In 2010 there were 702,749 households and 450,651 families in the county. The population density  was 2,974.4 per square mile (1,148.4 square kilometers). There were 821,693 housing units at an average density of 1,342.5 per square mile (518.3 square kilometers). 52.3% were White, 40.5% Black or African American, 2.5% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 0.8% of some other race and 2.4% of two or more races. 5.2% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 7.5% were of German, 6.8% Polish and 5.2% Irish ancestry. There were 702,749 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were husband and wife families, 20.7% had a female householder with no husband  present, 35.9% were non-families, and 30.7% were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.22. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males. The 2010 American Community Survey 1-year estimate indicates the  median income for a household in the county was $39,408 and the median income for a family was $49,176. Males had a median income of $26,823 versus $17,744 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,948. About 18.6% of families and 23.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.8% of those under the age 18 and 11.7% of that age 65 or over. Religion. According to 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Wayne County was the Archdiocese of Detroit, with 297,283 Catholics worshipping at 149 parishes, followed by  92,394 non-denominational adherents with 144 congregations, 76,422 NBC Baptists with 110 congregations, an estimated 67,775 Muslims with 38 congregations, 28,021 ABCUSA Baptists with 32 congregations, 22,687 Missouri Synod Lutherans with 52 congregations, 16,043 CoGiC Pentecostals with 66 congregations, 14,689 UMC Methodists with 53 congregations, 14,107 PC-USA Presbyterians with 36 congregations, and 13,199 AME Methodists with 29 congregations. Altogether, 43.3% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information. In 2014, Wayne County had 780 religious organizations, the 12th most among all US counties. Government . Wayne County is Michigan's first "charter county", with a home rule charter setting up its structures within limits set in state law and constitution. Most Michigan county governments are structured according to state law, without a locally adopted charter. The city is governed pursuant to the "Home Rule Charter of Wayne County, Michigan", and the "Wayne County Code" is the codification of Wayne County's local ordinances. Unless a violation of the code or other ordinance is specifically designated as a municipal civil infraction (or unless expressly otherwise required by applicable state or federal laws), the violation is a  misdemeanor. The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records for all areas except Detroit, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. Most other local government functions – police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. – are the responsibility of individual cities and townships. Department of Public Services. Formerly the Wayne County Road Commission, the Department of Public Services is the government agency in Wayne County responsible for building and maintaining the county's roads and highways. A  number of the former agency's works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Corrections. The Wayne County Jail Division operates The Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility in Downtown Detroit, The Old Wayne County Jail in Downtown Detroit, and The William Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramck. Politics. Wayne County has backed the Democratic Party candidate for president in every election from 1932 onward, often and more recently by wide margins. From 1896 to 1928, it had always voted Republican for president, or at least more Republican than Democratic. Its large population has helped swing the election to Democrats  in many statewide elections since then, with candidates running up large margins here offsetting Republican majorities in most rural counties of Michigan. The last Republican candidate to carry Wayne County in a statewide election was Candice Miller when she won re-election to the Secretary of State office in 1998.