Map of Harper Woods city

Harper Woods is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city had a population of 15,492 at the 2020 census.

Harper Woods is a northeastern suburb of Metro Detroit and shares its southern and western border with the city of Detroit. It was incorporated as a city from the last remaining portion of Gratiot Township in 1951.

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History

Harper Woods was incorporated as a city on February 19, 1951, from what was left of Gratiot Township. A charter commission was elected, a charter prepared and adopted, and a city council elected. The City of Harper Woods came into existence on October 29, 1951, when the charter took effect and the first city council was sworn in.

The fledgling suburb faced the usual problems confronting new cities: schools, streets, sidewalks, water systems, drains, etc. In 1956, Harper Woods was the subject of a community service study by the Bureau of Government, Institute of Public Administration, at the University of Michigan.

The development of Harper Woods reflected the growth of metropolitan Detroit. In 1955, Interstate 94 (I-94) (which bisects the eastern part of the suburb) was approved, and construction on the Eastland Shopping Center began soon after. Eastland Center, one of the first outdoor malls in the Midwest, opened in 1957. Harper Woods continued to develop and grow over the decades. In 2001, Harper Woods celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Pension fund lawsuit

In September 2007, the City of Harper Woods Employees’ Retirement Scheme filed suit against British-based defense contractor BAE Systems. The suit alleges that BAE Systems executives funneled approximately $2 billion to Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar. The suit, which made news around the world, seeks governance changes to the BAE Systems board, and efforts to redress the losses due to this alleged corruption.

On December 29, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the Scheme’s claim. Representatives for the Scheme later said that they would consider appealing to the Supreme Court.

City manager controversy

On June 14, 2021, the Harper Woods City Council voted 4–3 to not renew the contract of City Manager Joseph Rheker. The vote took place shortly after Rheker had returned from active duty with the Navy Reserve, but Mayor Valerie Kindle said that the council’s decision was unrelated to his military service.

The council later offered the vacant city manager position to Monique Owens, who was mayor of Eastpointe at the time. At the special council meeting, the council did not allow residents to comment on the city manager hiring until after the council had already made its decision. However, Owens did not meet the conditions of the offer, and it was rescinded the following day.

Cultural history

Though a relatively new city, Harper Woods has played a role in the cultural history of Metro Detroit.

For many years, the city was home to the East Side Drive-In (located at 19440 Harper Avenue, near 7 Mile Road), the first drive-in theater in Metro Detroit and one of the first in the Midwest. The East Side opened May 26, 1938, with The Big Broadcast of 1938, starring W. C. Fields and Dorothy Lamour. Automobile capacity in later years was listed at 970 vehicles. The East Side closed in 1977 and was demolished a year later.

The Hideout (located at 20542 Harper Avenue, at Beaufait Street) was a popular teen dance club in the mid-1960s. Many Detroit-area music acts – including some that would go on to national prominence – performed at the club. Among them were Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder, Ted Nugent, Glenn Frey (later of the Eagles), and Suzi Quatro. One performance at the club by the MC5 was described by their manager John Sinclair. The Hideout spawned a local record label, Hideout Records. A 2001 compact disc, Friday at the Hideout: Boss Detroit Garage Bands 1964-1967, documents the scene. One of the first bands to play at the Hideout, The Underdogs, wrote Friday Night at the Hideout. Dave Leone is credited as the writer on the record.

Another venue for local bands in the 1960s and 1970s was Notre Dame High School. According to various accounts, “All the Motown artists used to come and lip-sync to their records. Local neighborhood bands got to play live.” Among the local performers of note who played dances and concerts at the school were The Amboy Dukes (featuring Ted Nugent), Bob Seger and the Last Heard, Frijid Pink, The Frost, Salem Witchcraft, Toby Redd, The Almighty Strut, and other acts.

U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall’s 1970s poem, “Poem With One Fact”, alludes to the city. Similarly, in 1986, the critically acclaimed crime fiction writer Loren D. Estleman unflatteringly portrayed the city in his Amos Walker novel Every Brilliant Eye. Among other works, the Detroit-area crime fiction writer Elmore Leonard mentions the city in his 2000 novel, Pagan Babies. Jeffrey Eugenides’ bestselling 1993 novel The Virgin Suicides as well as his Pulitzer Prize-winning Middlesex also mention Harper Woods.

Betty Bahr, an early local television personality, Leonard H. Bahr, a fine press printer and publisher (Adagio Press), Helen Filarski, professional baseball player from 1945 to 1950, Laura Joh Rowland, author of historical mystery fiction, and Angela Ruggiero, 2006 Olympics bronze medal winner (ice hockey), have been among its better known residents. Dave Coulier, a popular television and voice actor, graduated from Notre Dame High School.

For decades, Eastland Center dominated the cultural and commercial profile of the suburb. The mall housed a celebrated work of public sculpture, “The Lion and Mouse”, by Marshall Fredericks.

Harper Woods Road Map

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Geography

Harper Woods is located between the City of Detroit and St. Clair Shores, and between Detroit and the Grosse Pointes. Harper Wood borders Macomb County along 8 Mile Road on its north side. It is located along I-94. Eastland Center was the community’s shopping center until it closed in 2021. Harper Woods has no rail access.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.61 square miles (6.76 km), all land.

See also