Inkster

History

The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans. It was settled by non-indigenous people in 1825. A post office named "Moulin Rouge" was established there in December 1857. Robert Inkster, a Scotsman born March 27, 1828, in Lerwick, Shetland, operated a steam sawmill on present-day Inkster Road near Michigan Avenue in the early 1860s. The post office was renamed "Inkster" in July 1863. The village had a station on the Michigan Central Railroad by 1878. It incorporated as a village in 1926 from parts of Nankin Township and Dearborn Township. After much legal wrangling by the city of Dearborn, Dearborn Township, and the village of Inkster to sort out final borders for these communities, Inkster was incorporated as a city in 1964. In the 1920s and 1930s, African-Americans working in Henry Ford's Dearborn factories settled in Inkster, as it was closer to their work than Detroit, while they were not allowed to live in Dearborn itself. As a result of the police beating of Floyd Dent in January 2015, which was caught on a police vehicle's dash cam and released to the public, the victim was awarded $1.4 million. A special assessment of Inkster residents will pay for the settlement, on their July 1, 2015, property tax bill.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  19,437
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,819
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,223
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,390
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,959
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,750
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,340
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,674

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 — 2024-03-18
  4 km WSW of Millbury, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2023-05-20
  3 km SSE of Walbridge, Ohio
• 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