WYANDOTTE

city, Wayne County, southeastern Michigan, U.S., on the Detroit River, just southwest of Detroit. Settled in about 1820, it was laid out in 1854 on the site of the Indian village where Chief Pontiac had planned his attack on Detroit in 1763. Its name recalls the Wyandot (Wendat) Indians, a confederation of the Huron nation. The first commercial Bessemer steel in the United States was produced there in 1864, and Wyandotte was noted for Great Lakes shipbuilding (18721920). Diversified manufactures now include steel and allied products, cement, plastic pipes, and industrial diamonds; vast salt beds underlying the city are the basis for important chemical industries. Inc. city, 1867. Pop. (1990) 30,938.