Consisting of a narrow strip along Lake Saint Clair, between Grosse Pointe Farms in the south and Saint Clair Shores in the north, bordered by Grosse Pointe Woods to the west, Grosse Pointe Shores is the smallest of the five Grosse Pointe communities but has the longest shoreline.

Grosse Pointe Shores is mostly in Wayne County, with a small section extending north into Macomb County. The city is wholly residential, with no business district.

There is only one commercial property in the city, the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, and one not-for-profit property, the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House. Edsel Ford, the son of Henry Ford and president of Ford Motors from 1919 until his death in 1943, was a resident of Grosse Pointe Shores from 1929 until his death. His wife, Eleanor, continued living there until her death in 1976, after which the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House became a museum.

Grosse Pointe Shores has the 50th highest income for a municipality of more than a thousand residents in the United States, and the highest income in Michigan.

The chief route through the city is Lake Shore Road, which follows the lakeshore. Other significant routes include Cook Road, Lochmoor Boulevard, and Vernier Road. Besides Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Woods, and Saint Clair Shores, cities and villages within twenty miles of Grosse Pointe Shores include Harper Woods, Grosse Pointe, Eastpointe, Grosse Pointe Park, Roseville, Fraser, Hamtramck, Center Line, Warren, Mount Clemens, Sterling Heights, Detroit, Highland Park, Madison Heights, Hazel Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, Dearborn, Ferndale, and Huntington Woods.

Like the other Grosse Pointe communities, the area was frequently visited by Native Americans traveling the Great Lakes. In stormy weather, canoes could access the Milk River, at the northern edge of what is now Grosse Pointe Shores, travel through the Black Marsh, and then along Fox Creek, as an alternate route to the Detroit River.

European-Americans came to the area shortly after the founding of Detroit in 1701, when French settlers built farms and lakes along the lake, generally with lake frontages of from 200 to 800 feet, often extending inland for two or three miles. These properties became known as ribbon farms.

By the 1850s, industrial leaders and other wealthy Detroit families began building summer homes along the lake, most of them build on several acres of property, including some small farms. In time, some of these homes became year-round residences.

In the 1880s, an interurban railway system was built, connecting Detroit with the Grosse Pointe communities, Saint Clair Shores, and on to Mount Clemens. This allowed residents to more easily commute between their homes on the lakeshore and their jobs in Detroit. Not long after that, the automobile came into being.

In 1889, a post office was established, although its original name was Clairview, for its location on Lake Saint Clair. Henry C. Wann, manager of the Claireview Stock Farms, was the first postmaster. The post office operated until April 30, 1904.

By the early 20th century, larger homes were being built along Lake Shore Road. In 1911, the community was incorporated as the Village of Grosse Pointe Shores. Instrumental in the organization of the new village was George Osius, who was involved in village affairs for more than thirty years.

The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club was founded in 1914. With memberships originally restricted to residents of the village, club members met in one another's homes until a clubhouse and harbor were built in 1929.

At around the same time that the village was incorporated, the first of what was to include several large mansions were built along Lake Shore Road. However, with the passing of the original patriarchs and matriarchs, family members subdivided large estates and rebuilt with luxurious homes that were not as large as the original mansions. Among the largest of the surviving estates was the Edsel and Eleanor Ford Home, situated at the mouth of the Milk River.

By the end of the 20th century, the village had grown into a community of impeccably built and landscaped homes, and its residents were in the higher income levels. On February 24, 2009, the village became a city, officially named the Village of Grosse Pointe Shores, A Michigan City.

At the time of the 2000 census, the median income for a family in Grosse Pointe Shores was $289,680, and the per capita income for the village was $179,639, with only three percent of the population living below the poverty level.

There are no schools within the city limits of Grosse Pointe Shores. Most residents are served by the Grosse Pointe Public School System, attending campuses in Grosse Pointe Woods, while the small portion of the city in Macomb County is served by the South Lake School District.

The focus of this category is on Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.

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