Clarkston, Michigan

City of the Village of Clarkston Clarkston
—  City  —
Location of Clarkston, Michigan
Coordinates: 42°44′01″N 83°25′08″W / 42.73361°N 83.41889°W / 42.73361; -83.41889Coordinates: 42°44′01″N 83°25′08″W / 42.73361°N 83.41889°W / 42.73361; -83.41889
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Oakland
Settled	1830
Incorporated	1884[1] (village)
Area
– Total	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
– Land	0.5 sq mi (1.2 km2)
– Water	0.1 sq mi (0.1 km2)  9.80%
Population (2010)
– Total	882
– Density	1,757.2/sq mi (678.5/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
– Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	48346
Area code(s)	248
FIPS code	26-82450[2]
GNIS feature ID	623384[3]

Clarkston, known officially by the name City of the Village of Clarkston, is a small city located within Independence Charter Township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 882 at the 2010 census.^[4]

Overview

Clarkston is a small community in the northern outskirts of the Detroit suburbs. Located with easy access to I-75, Clarkston offers a direct route to downtown Detroit and Flint. U.S. Route 24 also begins in Clarkston as a north-south highway.

The jurisdiction of the city government is limited to a relatively small downtown area commonly referred to as "the village." Those living in the much larger surrounding area of Independence Township refer to themselves as living in Clarkston. Very few residents describe themselves as living in Independence Township. The township and city both use Clarkston as a mailing address, and are served by Clarkston Community Schools.

The township is home to DTE Energy Music Theatre, Pine Knob Ski Resort, Clarkston High School and Everest Academy and High School.

In September 2008, the pilot episode for the new HBO show Hung was shot at Clarkston Junior High School in downtown Clarkston. The show revolves around a baseball coach. HBO paid students of the high school to be extras in scenes where they were fans in the crowd of a basketball game.

History

Linux Jacox from New York built the first house in Clarkston in 1830. He sold his claim to Butler Holcomb in 1831. In 1832, Holcomb built the second house and a sawmill on sections 20 and 21. The town was named for the Clark brothers, from New York. Jeremiah Clark, from Onondaga County, New York, came to Detroit in 1831, and in the autumn of 1832 located on section 7 in Independence Township where he built a log cabin. Among his three children were three boys, Edwin, Milton and Newton. Nelson W. Clark arrived in 1836 and became a prominent citizen in the township. In 1838, Holcomb sold his interests to the Clark brothers, who then built a grist mill. In 1842, the Clark brothers platted a tract of land on section 20 for a village and gave it the name Clarkston.^[5] The first church to be erected in Clarkston was the Methodist Church on Buffalo Street, in 1841.^[6]

In 1980, Clarkston was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District on the merit of its architectural and historical significance. Clarkston has many important examples of Queen Anne style homes. Residents in 1980 came together and submitted the appropriate paperwork to the National Park Service to list Clarkston as a historic district primarily to prevent Main Street from widening and wiping out character-defining buildings as well as Clarkston's history.^[7]

Public schools

The schools in the Clarkston Community School District are:

• Clarkston High School
• CSMTech Academy
• Oakland Technical Center - Northwest Campus
• Clarkston Junior High School
• Sashabaw Middle School
• Andersonville Elementary School
• Bailey Lake Elementary School
• Clarkston Elementary School
• Independence Elementary School
• North Sashabaw Elementary School
• Pine Knob Elementary School
• Springfield Plains Elementary School
• Clarkston Early Childhood Center

Private schools

The private schools in Clarkston are:

• Cedar Crest Academy (K-8) - 8970 Dixie Highway
• Everest Academy and High School
• Oakland Christian School - 6300 Clarkston Road

Demographics

As of 2010 Clarkston had a population of 882. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 97.7% white, 0.2% black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.5% from some other race and 0.9% from two or more races. 1.8% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.^[8]

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 962 people, 406 households, and 265 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,106.0 per square mile (807.5/km²). There were 424 housing units at an average density of 928.2 per square mile (355.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.78% White, 0.31% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.10% from other races, and 2.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population.

There were 406 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $62,667, and the median income for a family was $90,189. Males had a median income of $66,250 versus $37,604 for females. The per capita income for the city was $36,838. About 2.2% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.4% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

• Dan Dickerson, Detroit Tigers broadcaster
• Henry Ford, who maintained a summer home and weekend cottage on Main Street.^{[citation needed]} The building still stands today. Ford also owned a mill which operated on the water from what is now called "Mill Pond" in Clarkston. This building still exists in part but has been modernized into a small mall which includes art galleries and office space. He also paid to have the original city sewer system built.
• Kid Rock, musician
• David Simko, former NASCAR Cup Series driver

Dane Fife, Michigan State Assistant Basketball Coach

References

1. ^ Clarkston, Michigan 48346 - InfoMI.com
2. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Clarkston, Michigan
4. ^ "Race, Hispanic or Latino, Age, and Housing Occupancy: 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File (QT-PL), Village of Clarkston city, Michigan". U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder 2. http://factfinder2.census.gov. Retrieved August 18, 2011. 
5. ^ Durant, Samuel W. (2005) [1877]. "Independence Township". History of Oakland County, Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. pp. 207–214. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/bad1021.0001.001/321&view=image&size=150. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
6. ^ "A Brief History of Clarkston". Clarkston Community Historical Society. http://www.clarkstonhistorical.org/history.htm. Retrieved 15 August 2011. 
7. ^ "Clarkston Village Historic District". National Register of Historic Places. 1980. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natregsearchresult.do?fullresult=true&recordid=12. Retrieved 15 August 2011. 
8. ^ 2010 general profile of population and housing characteristics of Clarkston from the US census

External links

Metro Detroit portal

• Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce
• Clarkston Community Schools
• Clarkston Community Historical Society