Editing Westland, Michigan (section)

==History==
===Early history===
[[File:The Octagon House.jpg|thumb|left|The Octagon House, part of the Westland Historical Park]]
[[Image:NankinMillsFront.jpg|thumb|right|Nankin Mills]]
[[File:Westland Center - East Side.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Westland Center|Westland Shopping Center]]]]
[[File:Dairy Dan Westland.JPG|thumb|right|View from Ford Road ([[M-153 (Michigan highway)|M-153]]) in central Westland, MI]]
During the 18th century, the area was inhabited by the people of a [[Potawatomi]] Native American village. Other tribes, particularly three [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] tribes, used the area as hunting territory. Though white settlers did not begin to settle the area until about 1824, they began passing through at the beginning of the 19th century.

Before becoming Westland, the area had several other names. In 1827, the area became known as Bucklin Township, which included what is now the cities of Westland, [[Livonia, Michigan|Livonia]], [[Garden City, Michigan|Garden City]], [[Inkster, Michigan|Inkster]], [[Wayne, Michigan|Wayne]], [[Dearborn, Michigan|Dearborn]], [[Dearborn Heights, Michigan|Dearborn Heights]] and [[Redford Township, Michigan|Redford Township]]. In 1829, it was proposed that Bucklin Township be divided into Lima and Richland; the former is what eventually became Westland. Due to name conflicts under territorial law prohibiting duplication of post office names, Lima was renamed [[Nankin Township, Michigan|Nankin Township]], after the Chinese city of [[Nanjing|Nanking]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Founding Westland |website=Michiganhistory.leadr.msu.edu|url=http://michiganhistory.leadr.msu.edu/founding-westland/|access-date=2020-12-26|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Later history===
Nankin Township was mostly rural until World War II. The [[Norwayne Historic District|Norwayne subdivision]] is one of the oldest areas of the city, having existed for over 65 years. The area was built immediately after [[World War II]] to provide temporary housing for returning soldiers who worked in nearby factories.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ramirez|first=Charles E.|title=Westland's Norwayne neighborhood revival hits milestone|url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2014/11/01/westland-norwayne-neighborhood-revival-hits-milestone/18332839/|access-date=2020-12-26|website=The Detroit News|language=en-US}}</ref>

By 1960, Nankin Township's population had increased to 70,000, giving the area the distinction of being the state's largest township. During the early 1960s, the city of Livonia wanted to annex the part of Nankin in which a large shopping mall, [[Westland Center|Westland Shopping Center]], was to be built.  The shopping center eventually opened in 1965, joining Northland and Eastland malls in [[Southfield, Michigan|Southfield]] and [[Harper Woods]], respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Westland Shopping Center (Westland|first=Mich )|title=Westland Shopping Center records|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?cc=bhlead;c=bhlead;idno=umich-bhl-2017028;didno=umich-bhl-2017028;view=text|access-date=2020-12-26|website=quod.lib.umich.edu}}</ref> In reaction to Livonia's annexation attempts, the people of Nankin Township voted on May 16, 1966, to take all other territory to form the City Of Westland.<ref name=":0" /> At that time, it was the fourth largest city in [[Wayne County, Michigan|Wayne County]].