With a population in excess of 80,000, Westland, Michigan is the tenth largest city and the twelfth largest municipality in the state.

Incorporated as a city in 1966, the area that is now Westland began as Bucklin Township, was changed to Lima Township, then Nankin Township before incorporating as a city.

The area that is now Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Garden City, Inkster, Livonia, Westland, and Redford Township was organized as Bucklin Township in 1827. A couple of years later, in 1829, Bucklin Township was divided into Lima and Perkin townships, with the area of Westland in Lima Township. However, at that time, postal regulations didn't allow two townships to have the same name, so Lima Township was quickly changed to Nankin Township. In 1835, Livonia Township split from Nankin Township, which included the areas now known as Garden City, Inkster, Wayne, and Westland.

During the 1960s, the Westland Shopping Center was about to be built, and the City of Livonia had plans to annex the part of Nankin Township that included this large retail space.

The Westland Shopping Center became one of the nation's first malls in 1965. In response to Livonia's threats of annexation, Nankin Township citizens voted to incorporate the remainder of the township as a city, and, named for the mall, Westland became a city on May 11, 1966.

Before the settlement of the area by European-Americans, the Potawatomi had a village there in the 18th century, while other Algonquian tribes hunted the area from time to time.

Although the first white settlers didn't come until 1824, they began passing through the area in the early 1800s. The area was sparsely settled and mostly rural until after World War II, however. The oldest neighborhood in the city is the Norwayne Subdivision. Now known as the Norwayne Historic District, the residential development was built for World War II defense workers. This neighborhood is roughly bounded by Palmer Road to the north, Wildwood Road to the west, Merriman Road to the east, Glenwood Road, and the Wayne County Lower Rouge Parkway to the south.

During Westland's history, as a township and as a city, since first appearing on a US Census roll in 1930, it has experienced only two slight declines in population, in 1980 and in 2010. Its peak population was 86,749 in 1970, and its population in 2020 was 85,420.

Westland is mostly rectangular in shape, except for its eastern boundaries, as Garden City, Dearborn Heights, and Inkster cut into it. Westland's northern boundary is Joy Road, and its western boundary is Hannan Road. Most of its southern boundary is Glenwood Road, but, in the east, its boundaries cut south along a sliver of land, between Merriman Road and Henry Ruff Road, as far as Van Born Road, then west, between Van Born Road and Annapolis Road, to Inkster Road. Several roads make up its broken eastern boundaries.

M-153 (Ford Road) runs east-west through the center of the city, and US-12 (Michigan Avenue) cuts roughly east-west across a small section of the city in the southeast. I-275 runs roughly north-south just west of Westland's city limits, US-12 runs just south of its city limits, I-94 is further south of Westland, and I-96 is north of the city.

Livonia is abutted by Livonia to the north, Wayne and Romulus to the south, Canton Township to the west, and Garden City, Inkster, and Dearborn Heights to the east.

Cities and villages within twenty miles of Westland include Garden City, Wayne, Livonia, Plymouth, Dearborn Heights, Inkster, Romulus, Northville, Taylor, Dearborn, Novi, Detroit, Allen Park, Belleville, Ypsilanti, Farmington, Lincoln Park, Ecorse, Melvindale, Farmington Hills, and River Rouge.

The focal point of this portion of our web guide is the City of Westland, Michigan. Online resources for governmental entities, industries, businesses, schools, places of worship, organizations, attractions, events, entertainment venues, and recreational opportunities within the city are appropriate topics for this category.

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