ECORSE

city, Wayne county, Michigan, U.S. It lies along the Detroit River and is one of several contiguous southwest suburbs of Detroit known as downriver communities. Settled about 1815 on the site of an Indian camp and burial ground, it was called Grandport and developed in the early 20th century with the growth of the Ford Motor Company in nearby Dearborn. Its name was derived from the French name Rivire aux corses (tree-bark river), denoting a small stream along which Indians made their canoes. A steel-making plant was built in Ecorse in 1930; auto parts and tools are also produced. Inc. village, 1903; city, 1941. Pop. (1990) 12,180.