Davison, Michigan

City of Davison
—  City  —
Nickname(s): City of Flags
Location of Davison, Michigan
Coordinates: 43°1′52″N 83°31′1″W / 43.03111°N 83.51694°W / 43.03111; -83.51694
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Genesee
Government
- Mayor	Tim Bishop
- City Manager	Michael Hart
Area
- City	1.8 sq mi (4.6 km2)
- Land	1.8 sq mi (4.6 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	794 ft (242 m)
Population (2000)
- City	5,536
- Density	3,106.3/sq mi (1,200.8/km2)
- Metro	425,790
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	48423
Area code(s)	810
FIPS code	26-19880[1]
GNIS feature ID	0624356[2]
Website	http://www.cityofdavison.org/

Davison is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 5,536 at the 2000 census. Davison is located within Davison Township, but is administratively autonomous.

Davison was first settled in 1842 by Eleazer Thurston.^[3]

Davison was named after Judge Norman Davison, who founded a nearby town formerly known as Davisonville, now known as Atlas.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all land.

Notable residents

Davison is the hometown for participants in several prominent events in American history.

• Filmmaker Michael Moore was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Flint, Michigan, spent most of his childhood in Davison, and graduated from Davison High School in 1972.^[4]
• Thomas C. Hart, a U.S. Navy admiral and Superintendent of the Naval Academy in the early 20th Century, was born in Davison and graduated early from Davison High School to attend Annapolis, beginning a career that saw him at the forefront of developing combat strategies in submarine warfare. Admiral Hart was a US senator from Connecticut in the last years of his life. The US Navy frigate USS Thomas C. Hart (FF-1092) was named in his honor.
• Brent Metcalf, two time NCAA national wrestling champion
• Ken Morrow, an ice hockey defenseman, played on the U.S. men's ice hockey team in the 1980 Olympic Winter Games that won the gold medal by beating Finland after defeating the Soviet Union's team in what has become known as the Miracle on Ice. Morrow also played for the New York Islanders, becoming the first player to win an Olympic gold medal and an NHL championship in one season.
• Kathleen Flinn, journalist and best-selling author of the culinary memoir The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, was raised in Davison; she frequently refers to her experiences growing up on the family farm here as formative to her life as a chef and food writer.
• Barry Stokes, a former NFL football player, is from Davison.
• The post-hardcore band Chiodos started in Davison.
• Robert Longfield, American composer and arranger, served as the band and orchestra director at Davison High School from 1972-1987.
• Tim Thomas, Goaltender for the Boston Bruins is a 1992 graduate of Davison High School. In 2011 Thomas won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins, and he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup playoffs MVP) in 2011 and the Vezina Trophy (best goaltender in the NHL) in 2009, and 2011.
• Actor Phillip Roetter a current ABC Family actor.
• Birth place of former Chiodos singer and current D.R.U.G.S. singer, Craig Owens (vocalist).

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 5,536 people, 2,496 households, and 1,465 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,106.3 per square mile (1,200.8/km²). There were 2,652 housing units at an average density of 1,488.1 per square mile (575.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.46% White, 0.51% African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.38% of the population. Out of its 5,536 residents, 23.9% are German, 17.4% are Irish, 14.5% are English, and the remaining percent are from other areas of origination.

There were 2,496 households out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 81.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,482, and the median income for a family was $51,925. Males had a median income of $42,719 versus $28,222 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,449. About 5.6% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.9% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

In January, 2010, it was announced that Davison City Manager Dale Martin and Davison Township, Michigan Supervisor Kurt Soper had begun preliminary meetings discussing the possibility of merging the two municipalities.

Government

On Monday, July 26, 2010, the city council voted 4-3 to fire City Manager Dale Martin. No reason was given. Two days later, petitions were delivered to the Genesee County Clerk's office putting the recall of Mayor Fred "Mac" Fortner, and city council members Jim Hershberger, Matthew Judd, David Martin and Roger Lutze on the November general election ballot.^[5]

On Tuesday, November 2, 2010, four of the five targets of the recall election, Fred "Mac" Fortner, Jim Hershberger, Matthew Judd and Roger Lutze were successfully removed from office. Only David Martin survived the recall.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ "Michael Moore: Biography from Answers.com". www.answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/michael-moore. Retrieved 2010-02-13. 
5. ^ http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/07/firing_of_davison_city_manager.html
6. ^ http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/11/only_one_davison_city_councilm.html

External links

• City of Davison
• Davison Community Schools

Coordinates: 43°02′05″N 83°31′05″W / 43.03472°N 83.51806°W / 43.03472; -83.51806