DEARBORN

city, Wayne county, southeastern Michigan, U.S., adjacent to Detroit (north and east), on the River Rouge. The birthplace of Henry Ford, it is the headquarters of research, engineering, and manufacturing of the Ford Motor Company. Settled in 1795, it originated as a stagecoach stop (called Ten Eyck and later Bucklin) on the Sauk Trail between Detroit and Chicago. A community known as Pekin developed there and was laid out in 1833 as Dearbornville (named for U.S. Revolutionary War hero Gen. Henry Dearborn), which was incorporated as the village of Dearborn in 1893. Industrial development began with the building of the Ford Motor Company River Rouge Assembly Plant in 1917 and continued with related automotive industries. The City of Fordson, adjacent to the plant, consolidated with Dearborn in 1928. Henry Ford Community College (1938) and the Dearborn campus (on the site of Fairlane, the former Ford estate) of the University of Michigan (1956) are located there. Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum feature exhibits of Americana; the Dearborn Historical Museum is housed in the former quarters of the commandant of the Detroit Arsenal (built 183337). Inc. city, 1927. Pop. (1990) 89,286.