Oakland County MichiganA Video & Photo Tour of Rochester MichiganOakland County Michigan - Rochester HillsMost days we enjoy a relaxing walk along Paint Creek Trail which winds its way from Downtown Rochester deep into the surrounding hills. Paint Creek Trail, the first rail to trail in the State of Michigan, was acquired in 1983 from the former Penn Central Railroad for $450,000. The 8.9 mile Trail follows the Paint Creek as it meanders through fields, prairies, woodlands and marshlands. The Paint Creek is the major remaining cold water designated trout stream in the Detroit area, around which many game and non-game birds, frogs, snakes and toads make their home. A naturalized corridor, the Trail is home to fox, squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, quail, pheasant and forest birds. White tail deer are frequently observed in early morning or at dusk.
Enjoy a video tour of beautiful Paint Creek TrailA Brief History of Rochester MichiganThe first settlers in what would become Rochester, the Graham family, built a log cabin in 1817. The cabin was located where the Quik Pik and Penn Station stores today exist at the intersection of Main and Second Street.The city was named for Rochester, New York, just like Rochester, Minnesota, as many early settlers to the area were formerly from the state of New York. By 1895, Rochester's population was 900. The 2008 census estimate places the population at 11,002. The City of Rochester is bordered on the north, south, and west by the City of Rochester Hills, and to the east by Shelby Township in Macomb County. Rochester has great natural beauty due to the three waterways that surround the city, abundant green space of three parks, and two winding nature trails. Residents can enjoy fishing in the Clinton River or biking along the Paint Creek Trail.
Oakland County Michigan HistoryOakland County Michigan was created on 12 Jan 1819 and was formed from Macomb County. The County was named for the numerous oak openings in the county. Bela Hubbard described an oak opening as "a majestic orchard of oaks and hickories varied by small prairies, grassy lawns and clear lakes." The County Seat is Pontiac .
Pontiac, located on the Clinton River, was Oakland's first town and became the county seat. After the Civil War, Oakland was mainly an agricultural county with numerous isolated villages. By the end of the 19th century, three rail lines served Pontiac and the city attracted carriage and wagon factories. Streetcars began moving people in the late 1890s. Developers turned southern Oakland County Michigan into a suburb of Detroit in the 1890s, when a Cincinnati firm platted a section of Royal Oak called "Urbanrest." Migration worked both ways. Several thousand people moved from Oakland County farms to Detroit as the city attracted factories. By 1910, a number of rich Detroiters had summer homes and some year-round residences in what became Bloomfield Hills. The auto age enveloped Pontiac in the early 1900s. The Oakland Motor Car Co. was founded in 1907 and became a part of General Motors Corp., which was soon Pontiac's dominant firm. In the 1950s, jobs and people began leaving Detroit. Northland Center opened in 1954. Oakland County passed Wayne County in effective buying power by 1961, when it ranked 28th in the nation in household income. It ranked second-highest nationally in per capita income for counties of more than a million people, behind New York County (Manhattan). The median price of a home in Oakland County skyrocketed to $164,697, more than $30,000 above the national median. Today, Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2009, the population was estimated at 1,205,508. The county seat is Pontiac. Oakland County Michigan is part of the Detroit metropolitan area; though the city of Detroit is located in neighboring Wayne County, south of 8 Mile Road. Oakland County is home to 62 cities, villages and townships. These communities range from blue-collar, inner-ring suburbs like Ferndale and Hazel Park, to wealthy cities such as Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and West Bloomfield Township. The white-collar cities of Troy, Southfield, Farmington Hills, and Auburn Hills host a diverse mix of Fortune 500 companies. The cities of Royal Oak, home of the Detroit Zoological Park, and Ferndale attract many young people to their mature, bohemian downtowns, which have many restaurants, shops and night clubs. Oakland County is also home to Oakland University, a large public institution that straddles the Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills border. Metro Detroit's suburbs are among the most affluent in the nation. Oakland County is the 4th wealthiest county in the United States among counties with more than one million people. The county's knowledge-based economic initiative, coined "Automation Alley," is one of the largest employment centers for engineering and related occupations in the United States.
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