Wyandotte is in the southeast corner of the Detroit Metro Region, in the southeastern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

About eleven miles south of Detroit, Wyandotte is part of the Downriver area, a collection of eighteen cities and townships in Wayne County, south of Detroit, and along or near the western shores of the Detroit River.

Wyandotte is abutted by Ecorse to the north, Lincoln Park to the northwest, Southgate to the west, Riverview to the south, and the Detroit River to the east, with LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on the eastern shore.

M-85 (Fort Street) makes up most of the city's western border, while Pennsylvania is its southern border, Goddard Road and the Ecorse River are its northern border, and the Detroit River is to the east.

Cities and villages within twenty miles of Wyandotte include Southgate, Ecorse, Riverview, Trenton, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, Allen Park, Melvindale, Taylor, Gibraltar, Woodhaven, Dearborn, Rockwood, South Rockwood, Flat Rock, Romulus, Inkster, Detroit, Dearborn Heights, Estral Beach, Garden City, Hamtramck, Highland Park, and Wayne.

LaSalle, Ontario is 17.6 miles by road, because it is necessary to travel north to Detroit in order to cross the Ambassador Bridge into Canada. Old Sandwich Town, also in Ontario, is 14.4 miles from Wyandotte.

First appearing on a US Census roll in 1870 with a population of 2,731, Wyandotte grew rapidly, reaching a peak population of 41,061 in 1970. Since then, however, it has declined each decade, and its population in 2020 was 25,058.

The city was named for the Wyandots, a branch of the Huron Tribe who inhabited the area prior to its settlement by European-Americans. The Wyandots came from Ontario when their French allies founded Detroit, following the Detroit River ten miles to the south, where they founded a village known as Maquaqua.

The first European-American settler in the area was Major John Biddle. An officer during the War of 1812 and a former mayor of Detroit, Major Biddle acquired 2,200 acres in a US government auction in 1818. Including what is now Biddle Avenue and Vinewood Avenue, he named his farm The Wyandotte, after the tribe that was then living just south of his farm. As other settlers came to the area, they began referring to the area as Wyandotte.

In 1854, the Eureka Iron Works purchased Major Biddle's farm and, upon it, they opened a steel mill using the Bessemer Process, a method of producing high-quality steel in large quantities. The Iron Works platted a village site and recorded it as Wyandotte on December 12, 1854. A post office was established in that name on February 14, 1855, with William Sichles as postmaster.

Wyandotte was incorporated as a city on April 8, 1867. Its streets were laid out in a north-south, east-west grid, modeled after those of Philadelphia. The focal point was the Detroit River, and the first parallel street was named Front Street, but later extended and renamed Van Alstyne Boulevard. Streets running parallel to Front Street were numbered, beginning with First Street, while those running horizontally to the numbered streets were named for trees and plants.

In 1871, the Wyandotte Shipyards was founded and remained in operation until 1922. In the early 1890s, Captain J.B. Ford created the J.B. Ford Company to produce soda ash, and the Michigan Alkali Company, in Wyandotte, to process soda ash into various soaps and cleansers. These companies were acquired by BASF, the largest chemical producer in the world, in 1969, and BASF continues operations in the city today.

In 1905, Wyandotte annexed the former village of Glenwood. Founded in the 1890s, the community was first known as New Jerusalem but was incorporated as the village of Glenwood in 1900, although, when a post office was established on October 21, 1901, it was named Bacon since a Glenwood post office was in operation in Cass County. Wyandotte annexed the village in 1905, and the Bacon post office closed on April 30, 1906.

In 1923, Wyandotte annexed the former village of Ford City, which had been named for John B. Ford, president of the Michigan Alkali Company. Incorporated as a village in 1902, the village was merged with Wyandotte. In order to get the tax relief available from a larger community, Mr. Ford promised to build a hospital if the village would merge with Wyandotte, and this was accomplished in 1923. Wyandotte General Hospital was deeded to the city in 1926.

Today, Wyandotte hosts several festivals and other events, including the Heritage Event Series, the Wyandotte Street Art Fair, its Independence Day Parade, Holiday Parade, Movie Nights, the Wyandotte Third Friday Events, and Downtown Markets. The city is also home to several art groups, including the Acanthus Art Society, which was established in 1932.

The focus of this portion of our web guide is on the City of Wyandotte, Michigan, and any entities within the city.

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