New Baltimore, Michigan

New Baltimore, Michigan
—  City  —
Downtown New Baltimore
Nickname(s): The N.B.
Location of New Baltimore, Michigan
Coordinates: 42°40′52″N 82°44′13″W / 42.68111°N 82.73694°W / 42.68111; -82.73694
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Macomb
First Settled	1796 (by French fur trappers)
Organized	1867 (village)
Incorporated	1931 (city)
Government
– Type	Strong Mayor
– Mayor	Larry Smith
– City Clerk	Marcia Shinska
– City Treasurer	Jeanne Bade
Area
– Total	6.7 sq mi (17.4 km2)
– Land	4.6 sq mi (12.0 km2)
– Water	2.1 sq mi (5.5 km2)
Elevation	584 ft (178 m)
Population (2000)
– Total	7,405
– Density	1,604.5/sq mi (619.5/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
– Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Zip Code	48047
Area code(s)	586
FIPS code	26-57100[1]
GNIS feature ID	0633313[2]
Website	http://www.cityofnewbaltimore.com

New Baltimore is a city and coastal resort community in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,405 at the 2000 census. The 2008 Census Bureau Estimate places the population at 11,346. New Baltimore is in Metropolitan Detroit.

History

New Baltimore incorporated as a village in 1867 and as a city in 1931.^{[citation needed]} It is located on the north coastline of Lake St. Clair, along the boundary line of Macomb and St. Clair Counties. The town sits on the waterfront along Lake St. Clair's Anchor Bay, and offers a public park, beach, and downtown-shopping district.

In 1796 French hunters and fur trappers were the first inhabitants of that portion of Macomb County that later became New Baltimore. The French settlers of this era took residence along the waterfront and rivers and later developed farms that had narrow frontage of 400 of 900 feet and extended inland from the water. Generally, the depth of the parcel was determined by how far a man could plow or cultivate in a day.^{[citation needed]}

The first evidence of a settled community came in the 1845, when a Mount Clemens businessman, Alfred Ashley, platted 60 acres (24 ha) of land lying on both sides of Washington Street. This would become known as the village of Ashley. On September 20, 1851, a post office called Ashleyville was established with Ashley as postmaster. Ashley also opened businesses in lumbering, shipping, and real estate.^{[citation needed]} The original village of Ashley occupied what is now the center part of downtown New Baltimore, extending northwest along Clay, Base and Maria Streets from Anchor Bay. The land was subdivided in the typical gridiron fashion used in most American communities at that time. Over the years, irregularities developed in the gridiron subdivision pattern because of the lack of local controls, conflicts with French claims, and changing land uses, particularly along the waterfront area. This created problems in both subdivision patterns in general and waterfront use in particular that remain today.^{[citation needed]} This original settlement bore Ashley’s name until 1867, when the village name was changed to New Baltimore.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout its history, New Baltimore has been linked to the regional economy by virtue of the city’s access to the waterfront and the region’s transportation network. In its early years, New Baltimore took advantage of its waterfront location to operate port facilities exporting agriculture and manufacturing products to other communities. The area was known for the manufacturing of barrels, brooms, bricks, coffins, corsets, and creamery products. Lumber products and building materials were shipped by boat from the local mills. Development was heavily oriented to the waterfront, where shipping piers extended a hundred or more feet into the lake.^{[citation needed]}

As automobile transportation increased in importance and travel patterns changed, so did the development of the city. Goods were no longer shipped by water and the waterfront slowly changed. Between 1860 and 1880, New Baltimore changed from a strong manufacturing and exporting community to a thriving community in Macomb County with many resort activities and well-known commercial establishments. The community was thriving and boasted an opera house, hotels, salt baths (which nearby city of Mount Clemens was famous for in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), summer and winter recreational activities, saloons, a brewery and numerous resort and commercial establishments. The city was in the path of a steam locomotive line that ran between Detroit and Port Huron in the late 19th century.^{[citation needed]} As technology changed, the city constructed an electricity plant to accommodate inter-urban passenger trains, which lasted until the mid-1920s.^{[citation needed]} Today, access to the city is provided via Interstate 94.

Geography

New Baltimore's water tower over Anchor Bay of Lake St. Clair

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.7 square miles (17 km²), of which, 4.6 square miles (12 km²) is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²) (31.5%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 7,405 people, 2,942 households, and 1,994 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,604.5 inhabitants per square mile (619.5 /km²). There were 3,218 housing units at an average density of 697.3 per square mile (269.2 /km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.89% White, 0.53% African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.34% of the population.

There were 2,942 households out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $60,699, and the median income for a family was $72,046. Males had a median income of $49,648 versus $33,083 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,921. About 1.0% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government

On November 3, 2009, Larry Smith was elected Mayor. Marcia Shinska was reelected as City Clerk and Jeanne Bade was elected City Treasurer.^{[citation needed]}

New Baltimore is represented on the Macomb County Commission by Kathy Vosburg. In the state legislature, New Baltimore is represented in the House by Andrea LaFontaine and in the Senate by Jack Brandenburg.

The city of New Baltimore is within the boundaries of the Anchor Bay School District.

Notable people associated with New Baltimore

• Butch Hartman, animator

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

	Michigan portal
	Metro Detroit portal

• City of New Baltimore
• Bay-Rama Fishfly Festival
• Voice Newspapers
• New Baltimore Historical Society
• Anchor Bay School District
• MacDonald Public Library
• Ride the Wave Committee
• Anchor Bay Chamber of Commerce
• Anchor Bay Community Foundation

Coordinates: 42°40′52″N 82°44′13″W / 42.68111°N 82.73694°W / 42.68111; -82.73694