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West Bloomfield Map - 1896Click on a section to see a larger view with related photographs
Explanation of the map sectionsBy an act of the legislative council, approved April 22, 1833, township 2 north of range 9 east was set off from Bloomfield to create a separate township. It was given the name West Bloomfield. The boundaries of the township established then are the same as at present. Over time Oakland County was divided mostly into 36-square-mile townships. One of Oakland County's 25 townships, West Bloomfield is further divided into 36 sections, numbered from NE corner to SE corner, in a serpentine fashion. Each section (1 sq. mi.) is 640 acres; a quarter section, when divided, makes two 80-acre parcels (most of which were oriented twice as "tall" as they were "wide"). These 80-acre "farms" were the most commonly purchased piece of Oakland County land when it was first offered by the U.S. Government. The first recorded sale of land in what is now West Bloomfield Township occurred on May 15, 1823, 14 years before Michigan achieved statehood. Description of West Bloomfield"This township is joined on the north by Waterford, and on the east by Bloomfield; its southern and western boundaries being respectively the townships of Farmington and Commerce. "A strongly-marked feature in the topography of West Bloomfield is the number, extent, and beauty of the lakes which thickly stud its surface, particularly in the northern part. It is the lake township of Oakland County; about one-fifth of its area being covered by these bodies of clear fresh water. There are Pine, Black Walnut, Long, Cranberry, and Lord's lakes in the eastern part; Cass and Pickerel lakes in the north; Orchard, Upper Straits, Woodpecker, and Morris in the central portion; and Union, Scotch, Green, Pleasant, and Lower Straits in the western part of the town, besides numerous smaller lakes, many of which are nameless, though beautiful and romantic. "The largest of these, Cass lake, discharges its waters through Pickerel and Timber lakes and the Clinton river into lake St. Clair; Lord's, Long, Black Walnut, Cranberry, Woodpecker, and Morris lakes discharge through small branches into the river Rouge; while Upper and Lower Straits, Green, Scotch, and Union lakes send their tribute westward through the township of Commerce to the Huron river. The Pine lake has the greatest altitude, being very nearly four hundred feet above the level of the river at Detroit. The only stream of even moderate size in the township (with the exception of the short channel which connects Cass and Pickerel lakes) is a creek, of which the western branch takes its rise in Woodpecker and Morris lakes, and the eastern one flows out from Black Walnut lake, the two uniting on section 26, there forming the main stream, which leaves the township at its southeastern corner. This stream turns several mill-wheels in its course through the townships of Farmington, Bloomfield, and Southfield, and in former years furnished propelling power for a saw- and a grist-mill in West Bloomfield, but they have long since disappeared, and now the little creek flows unobstructed from its sources to the line of Farmington. The surface of the township is uneven, particularly in the lake region, where it is frequently broken into abrupt hills, though these do not rise to any great height. In the southern part it is simply rolling, and this portion was originally much more heavily timbered than was the case among the lakes in the northern part." from the History of Oakland County, Michigan, published in 1877: Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society
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