Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac, Michigan City of Pontiac Official seal of Pontiac, Michigan Location of Pontiac, Michigan Location of Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac / p nti k, p ni-/ is a town/city in the U.S.
It is the governmental center of county of Oakland County. and about 12 miles (19 km) north and slightly west of the Detroit town/city limits.
Pontiac is prominently the first organized settlement of a town in 1818 inside the interior of Michigan, with the exception of Dearborn that was in close adjacency of Detroit.
Named after Pontiac, a war chief of the Ottawa citizens , the town/city accomplished its widest reputation for its General Motors automobile manufacturing plants of the 20th century, which were the basis of its economy and contributed to the richness of the region.
Truck & Coach/Bus) which produced GMC products, and the Pontiac Motor Division, which in the city's heyday was the major automobile assembly plant where the famed Pontiac cars were produced.
The town/city of Pontiac also was home to Oakland Motor Car Company, which was acquired by General Motors in 1909.
Also of note is the Pontiac Silverdome, the stadium that hosted the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1975 until 2002, when the team returned to downtown Detroit.
Pontiac is bounded by the town/city of Auburn Hills to the east and north, the town/city of Lake Angelus to the north, Waterford Township to the west, and Bloomfield Township to the south.
The former Pontiac Township encompassed what are now the metros/cities of Pontiac, Lake Angelus, and Auburn Hills.
Residents are zoned to the School District of the City of Pontiac.
The precinct runs one chief high school, Pontiac High School.
Although the town/city population once supported two high schools, Pontiac Northern and Pontiac Central, by December 2008 administrators were making plans to consolidate the schools. Both were combined at the Pontiac Northern locale in 2009.
This combined high school is known as Pontiac High School.
Four charter schools operate in Pontiac; they are Pontiac Academy for Excellence (K-12), Arts and Technology Academy, Walton Charter, and Great Lakes Academy.
Pontiac is also home to Notre Dame Preparatory High School, a private Catholic school positioned in the North East region of the city.
The first European-American pioneer appeared in what is now the town/city of Pontiac in 1818.
The Pontiac Company, consisting of 15 members and chaired by Solomon Sibley of Detroit, comprised the first landowners in Pontiac.
Sibley, along with Stephen Mack and Shubael Conant, Pontiac Company members, also formed the partnership Mack, Conant & Sibley to serve to precarious a town.
While Solomon was the first chair of the Pontiac Company, for two years Sarah Sibley was the most active as the go-between with pioneer at Pontiac.
They helped her buy territory in Pontiac in 1825.
Stephen Mack, agent for the Pontiac Company, signed the deed at the request of the Sibleys, conveying 48.5 acres to Elizabeth Denison.
In 1837 Pontiac became a village, the same year Michigan attained statehood. The town had been titled after the noted Ottawa Indian war chief who had his command posts in the region decades before amid the resistance to European-American encroachment. Founded on the Clinton River, Pontiac was Michigan's first inland settlement. Rivers were critical to settlements, as transit ways in addition to providing water and, later, power.
From the beginning, Pontiac's central locale served it well.
Pontiac quickly became a capital of the new automotive industry. Throughout the 1920s and 30's, Pontiac had tremendous expansion in its populace and size as tens of thousands of prospective autoworkers moved here from the South to work in its GM auto assembly plants at Pontiac Assembly.
As the small "horseless carriage" manufacturers became merged under the mantle of the General Motors Corporation, Pontiac interval as the trade grew, suffering the same setback as other metros/cities during the Great Depression years of the 1930s. The first postwar years were a time of prosperity but the town/city changed as suburbs were advanced and citizens commuted by car to work.
In order to prevent flooding, the Clinton River was confined in concrete in downtown Pontiac in 1963. In 1969, the town/city of Pontiac adopted the Pontiac Plan as the official plan for stone the vacant region of the downtown district. Professor Davidson and town/city leaders made a push to precarious a new multi-purpose stadium, which was assembled and became known as the Silverdome. Construction began on the 80,000-seat stadium in 1972 and it opened in 1975 as the Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium.
Construction began in the 1970s on an urban renewal universal known as the "Pontiac Plan".
New thinking about downtown was to re-emphasize the street grid; the town/city wanted to reconnect Saginaw Street to the downtown area.
Some 52 new businesses were recruited to locate in downtown Pontiac, bringing new life to the city.
On January 26, 2012, West Construction Services began the renovation and restoration of the former Sears building for the Lafayette Place Lofts, the biggest assembly investment in Downtown Pontiac in approximately 30 years.
Pontiac officials are considering relocating the event to the downtown region of the city.
Pontiac participates in the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, an event celebrating Woodward's hot-rod history, stretching from Detroit to Pontiac.
Downtown Pontiac's eveninglife includes eveningclubs and music venues such as Club Visions, Tonic, and The Crofoot.
Together with the automotive industry, Pontiac was an early locale of movie making, with the Raleigh Michigan Studios, retitled as the Motown Motion Picture Studios. Scenes of the 2012 remake of the film Red Dawn were filmed in Pontiac and other Michigan locations, recreating Spokane, Washington.
Additionally, downtown Pontiac in August 2012 was the recording site for the tornado-themed disaster movie Into the Storm. The 2013 fantasy adventure film Oz the Great and Powerful was filmed at Motown Motion Picture Studios. Transformers: Age of Extinction is the latest movie to be filmed inside the studio, with the bulk of recording taking place in Pontiac. Pontiac is home to the Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial. It is positioned inside the Oakland County Government Complex off Telegraph Road.
See also: Pontiac Transportation Center Amtrak operates passenger service with its Wolverine from Pontiac to Chicago via Detroit and Battle Creek, Michigan.
Commuter rail service was once provided by Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW) and later Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA) from Pontiac to downtown Detroit.
Class one freight rail service is provided by Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW), which also operates a large classification yard in Pontiac serving the small-town auto industry.
Oakland County International Airport serves the town/city and encircling areas with commuter air service.
When previously owned by the city, it was known as the Pontiac City Airport.
But it is positioned outside the town/city in neighboring Waterford Township and not on territory adjoining with Pontiac's town/city limits.
M-1 (Woodward Avenue) northbound loops around Pontiac's downtown precinct (now known as the "Woodward Loop", closing it's loop back southbound as "Saginaw Street", then returning to the name of Woodward Avenue and routing directly to Downtown Detroit.
The Mayor of Pontiac is Dr.
Deirdre Holloway Waterman, who was propel as Pontiac's first female mayor by more than 68% of the vote on November 5, 2013. At the time of her election, Waterman told the Oakland Press, "I'm elated that our message of a positive change for Pontiac was well-accepted by the people.
Together, we rise." The ophthalmologist previously served as a commissioner to revise the town/city charter, and as chairwoman of the Pontiac Public Library Board.
Jukowski, who served one term as mayor after being propel in November 2009, is an attorney who has dealt in real estate in downtown Pontiac.
Waterman and the State of Michigan reached a power-sharing agreement after the town/city had been under state control for five years because of its financial problems.
Waterman would have responsibility for a balanced 2015-16 budget for the City of Pontiac, among other areas. From 2009 through 2013, Pontiac had been under the supervision of an Emergency Financial Manager appointed by the state government.
In order to balance the budget, state-appointed emergency supervisors drastically revised workforce union contracts with the city, sold off town/city assets such as parking meters, and privatized most enhance services.
District 2, which covers the central part of the city, is represented by Don Woodward; he was propel to his first term in 2013.
District 3, which covers the northwestern part of the city, is represented by Mary Pietila; she was propel to her first term in 2009 over now-School board member Sherman Williams II.
District 6, which covers the central portion north of downtown, is represented by Doris Taylor-Burks; District 5, which covers the northeastern corner of the city, is represented by Mark Holland.
The 2013 general election was scheduled for Tuesday, November 5 for the election of mayor and all seven council precinct seats, as well as all six library board director positions, will be determined.
At the January 10, 2013 Pontiac City Council meeting, Mayor Jukowski announced his intention to seek re-election as mayor.
Other announced candidates for mayor are Pontiac News Editor R.
On April 30, 2013, resident Dubrae Newman filed paperwork to be a candidate for Council District 1 and incumbent George Williams filed paperwork to be a candidate for Council District 2.
On May 1, 2013, resident Mike Mc - Guinness, the former chair of the Oakland County Democratic Party, filed paperwork to be a candidate for Council District 7.
The five candidates for mayor who competed in the August 6, 2013 major for the top two placement are Jukowski, Waterman, Russell, Watkins and a last-minute filing of former town/city employee Eric A.
However, Newman announced at a City Council meeting before to the general election that he withdrew as an active candidate and is supporting Waterman's re-election; due to the withdrawal deadline having passed, his name remains on the general election ballot. For Pontiac Library Board, nine candidates filed for the November 5, 2013 general election: Incumbents Joyce Allen, Roger Derby and Deirdre Waterman, as well as challengers Vernita Duvall, Juliene Dixon Jenkins, Ronnie Karpinski, Evelyn Le - Duff, Rosie Richardson and Deveda Travis.
After dropping out of the library board elections, Deirdre Waterman was propel Pontiac's first female mayor on November 5, 2013.
The East Campus of the Oakland County Service Center is positioned in Pontiac.
Mark Bego, author, born in Pontiac Jim Bundren, NFL player, born in Pontiac Madonna Louise Ciccone, known mononymously as Madonna, singer and actress, lived in Pontiac amid childhood Pete Dexter, novelist, journalist and screenwriter, born in Pontiac Jonas Gray, NFL player, born in Pontiac Laura Innes, actress, born in Pontiac Hayes Jones, Olympic hurdler, lived in Pontiac Thad Jones, jazz musician, born in Pontiac Air Force colonel, born in Pontiac Tony Lucca, actor/singer and former Mouseketeer, born in Pontiac.
Derek Minor, rapper, born in Pontiac Howard "Howdy" Quicksell, musician, lived and died in Pontiac Walker Russell, pro basketball player, born in Pontiac Walker Russell, Jr., pro basketball player, born in Pontiac Frank Russell, Pro Basketball Player Chicago Bulls, 1st from Oakland County & Pontiac to play in undivided NBA, Raised in Pontiac Campy Russell, Pro Basketball, Best High School Player in America 1971-72, NBA Allstar 1978-79, Raised in Pontiac Air Force brigadier general, born in Pontiac Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pontiac, Michigan Deed, "Mill Privilege," Oakland County, MI; Letter Sarah Sibley to Solomon, 1822, Sibley manuscript files, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library Lisette, Swan, Elizabeth 1965; deeds, Oakland County, Michigan; Original Pontiac Company minutes, Pontiac Public Library "Pontiac Phoenix Center Part of an Urban Renewal Project Known as the Pontiac Plan, ca.
"Pontiac Silverdome History and Conception: Conception of the Pontiac Silverdome".
"Pontiac Phoenix Center Part of an Urban Renewal Project Known as the Pontiac Plan, ca.
1966 1979: The Pontiac Plan Phoenix Center, 1966 1979".
"Large-scale commercial, residentiary evolution for downtown Pontiac secures state tax break".
"Historic Pontiac Sears building to be transformed into Lafayette Place Lofts | Money Home".
"Pontiac loft living about to expand".
"Deirdre Waterman takes Pontiac mayorship in landslide (with video)".
City of Pontiac, MI.
"Pontiac mayor, other candidates turn in petitions".
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City of Pontiac, Michigan PONTIAC MASTER PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Pontiac, Michigan
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