Editing Farmington Hills, Michigan (section)

==History==
The first white settler in what became Farmington Township was a [[Quaker]] from [[Farmington, New York]], named Arthur Power. He purchased land in 1823 and returned in 1824 with a group of families and associates to clear the land. The settlement became known as '''Quakertown'''. A post office was established in February 1826 with the name of Farmington. The original post office is still standing today, and is a designated [[historical site]]. The township of Farmington was organized in 1827, and the settlement was incorporated as the village of [[Farmington, Michigan|Farmington]] in the winter of 1866–67. A fire on October 9, 1872, destroyed many buildings in the village center. Farmington was incorporated as a city in 1926.

A small settlement was also developed in '''Clarenceville''', in the extreme southeast corner of the township on the boundary with [[Livonia, Michigan|Livonia]] in [[Wayne County, Michigan|Wayne County]]. Stephen Jennings built a tavern and a general store to accommodate travelers on the plank road between Detroit and Howell. The name remains in the [[Clarenceville School District]]. Even though the school buildings for Clarenceville are in Livonia in Wayne County, the school district serves a portion of Farmington Hills.

In 1839, a post office named '''East Farmington''' was opened, but it closed in 1842.<ref>Romig, ''Michigan Place Names'', p. 169</ref>

In 1847, a post office named '''North Farmington''' was established a mile south of the township line as Wolcott's Corners. After the death of postmaster Chauncey D. Walcott in 1865, the office moved to the township line in the northeast quarter of [[section (United States land surveying)|section]] 4 (near the intersection of 14 Mile Road and Farmington Road). The post office functioned until September 1902.<ref name="Romig">{{cite book | last = Romig | first = Walter  | year = 1986 | title = Michigan Place Names | orig-year= 1973 | publisher = Wayne State University Press | location = Detroit, Michigan | isbn = 0-8143-1838-X}}</ref>

Before the remainder of Farmington Township was incorporated as the city of Farmington Hills, there were two other incorporated entities within its boundaries. The first began as a subdivision named '''Quaker Valley Farms''' that was incorporated as the village of Quakertown in 1959. The other was '''Wood Creek Farms''', developed in 1937 as a subdivision by George Wellington of Franklin, who named it after a [[New England]] estate. It was incorporated as a village in 1957.<ref name="Romig" /> The villages, together with the remainder of Farmington Township, were incorporated into the City of Farmington Hills in 1973. The City grew rapidly throughout the mid-20th century.