Berkley

History

Prior to settlement, the land which would become Berkley consisted largely of dense forests and some isolated pockets of swampland. Many in the region deemed the areas north and west of Detroit as uninhabitable or impassible due to the harshness of the swamps beyond Detroit, but as adventurers pushed out through the interminable swamp, favorable land was discovered, which led to a flock of people to the lands of modern Royal Oak. Land in what would later become Berkley began being sold to farmers who cut down forests and otherwise prepared the land for farming. By the 1840s, Berkley contained a great number of dairy farms. The 1910s brought significant growth to the area with the completion of the Highland Park Ford Plant. As farms were sold and turned into subdivisions, there was pressure to formally incorporate the land. In 1923, Berkley was incorporated as a village. At the time, Elmer Cromie had named the road that ran through his farm "Berkley", and the "Berkley School" was then under construction, so the name Berkley was chosen for the village. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 brought growth in Berkley to a halt. Roughly 90% of the 5,558 residents in Berkley lost their jobs when the market crashed. Within a year, the city's population was dropping and in 1932 voters chose to incorporate their Village into a City to gain more oversight over taxes and other issues facing the community. In the 1940s, suburbanization and the post-war boom economy drove significant development in the area. The current Berkley High School was built in 1949. The city reached a population peak of 23,375 in 1960. In 1993, the Berkley Theater, long a symbol of moviegoers in the area, closed down and became a Rite Aid drug store. Which has since closed down again in late 2024. In July 1964,…

Geography

Berkley lies within Southeastern Oakland County. It is adjacent to the cities of Huntington Woods and Oak Park to the south, Southfield to the west, and Royal Oak to the north and east. Berkley is bordered by Woodward Avenue (M-1) on the east, Webster Road on the North, Greenfield Road on the west, and 11 Mile Road on the south. The southern border of the city is 3 miles north of the Detroit city limits, which are bounded by Eight Mile Road. Berkley is intersected by 12 Mile Road and Coolidge Highway, and though no Interstates run through the city, Interstate 75 and Interstate 696 are major thoroughfares near the city. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  31,359
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  30,282
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  30,253
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  29,095
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  25,150
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  21,761
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  20,090
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,805

Largest nearby schools

• Michigan Virtual Charter Academy
  Other · HAZEL PARK · 2,895 students · 18.1:1 ratio
• Lighthouse Connections Academy
  Other · TROY · 2,454 students · 30.7:1 ratio
• Troy High School
  High · Troy · 2,094 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• West Bloomfield High School
  High · WEST BLOOMFIELD · 1,652 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Bloomfield Hills High School
  High · Bloomfield Hills · 1,598 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• Athens High School
  High · Troy · 1,545 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Farmington High School
  High · FARMINGTON · 1,400 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• International Academy
  High · BLOOMFIELD HILLS · 1,351 students

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2026-05-04
  8 km N of Maybee, Michigan
• M 3 — 2026-04-26
  7 km SSE of Amherstburg, Canada
• M 2.5 — 2022-05-23
  2 km NNW of Corunna, Canada
• M 3.2 — 2020-08-21
  2 km SSE of Detroit Beach, Michigan
• M 3.4 — 2018-04-20
  Michigan
• M 2.6 — 2017-05-14
  18 km ENE of Leamington, Canada