Editing Southfield, Michigan (section)

==History==
Southfield was surveyed in 1817 according to the plan by Michigan territorial governor [[Lewis Cass]].<ref name="Southfield">{{cite web |url=http://www.cityofsouthfield.com/Visitors/AboutSouthfield/HistoryofSouthfield/tabid/143/Default.aspx |title=City of Southfield website, History of Southfield webpage |access-date=31 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402174805/https://cityofsouthfield.com/visitors/aboutsouthfield/historyofsouthfield/tabid/143/default.aspx |archive-date=April 2, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first settlers came from nearby [[Birmingham, Michigan|Birmingham]] and [[Royal Oak, Michigan]], as well as New York and [[Vermont]]. The area that became Southfield was settled by John Daniels in 1823. Among the [http://www.pioneercem.com founders] were the Heth, Stephens, Harmon, McClelland and Thompson families.

Town 1 north, 10 east was first organized as [[Southfield Township, Michigan|Ossewa Township]] on July 12, 1830, but the name was changed to [[Southfield Township, Michigan|Southfield Township]] 17 days later.<ref name="Southfield"/> The [[civil township|township]] took its name from its location in the "south fields" of [[Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan|Bloomfield Township]]. A US post office was established in 1833 and the first town hall built in 1873.

[[File:Travelers Tower 1 (Southfield).jpg|thumb|left|100px|Travelers Tower 1]]
The Southfield Fire Department was formed on April 6, 1942, and the Southfield Police Department in 1953.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cityofsouthfield.com/departments/police-department/history | title=History &#124; City of Southfield }}</ref> In the 1950s, cities and villages began to incorporate within the township, including [[Lathrup Village]] in 1950, and [[Beverly Hills, Michigan|Beverly Hills]] in 1957. Most of what was left of the township was formally incorporated as a city on April 28, 1958, to protect it from annexation attempts by Detroit; whites who had migrated to the suburbs did not want to be associated with Detroit's expanding black community.<ref>Sugrue, T. (1996). ''The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.</ref>

City Hall was built in 1964 as part of the new Civic Center complex, which also became home to Southfield's police headquarters. The Civic Center was expanded in 1971 to include a sports arena with swimming pool. Evergreen Hills Golf Course was added in 1972, and in 1978, a new public safety building, the [[Southfield Pavilion]], and a new court building were added. In 2003, an expanded and redesigned [[Southfield Public Library]] opened to the public on the Civic Center grounds, featuring state-of-the-art facilities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-02-24 |title=Historical Timeline |url=https://southfieldlibrary.org/about-us/your-library/southfield-history/historical-timeline/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Southfield Public Library |language=en-US}}</ref> Outside the Civic Center complex, Southfield has municipal parks and recreation facilities, largely developed in the 1970s, including Beech Woods Recreation Center and John Grace Community Center.

[[Duns Scotus College]] is now the home of Word of Faith Christian Center.<ref>{{Cite web |last=joe |date=2016-05-09 |title=From Friary to Church... To Urban Oilfield? |url=https://www.ferndalefriends.net/from-friary-to-church-to-urban-oilfield/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Ferndale Friends |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2016, the site was the center of local controversy over a proposed oil drilling site. Due to sustained opposition and environmental concerns, the plan was cancelled.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-07 |title=Developer abandons oil, gas drilling in Southfield |url=https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2017/03/07/developer-abandons-oil-gas-drilling-in-southfield/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=The Oakland Press |language=en-US}}</ref>