59 articles
Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio, is a city in northeastern Ohio and the seat of Summit County, founded in 1825 and known as the rubber capital of the world.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan: county seat of Washtenaw County, founded 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, home of the University of Michigan (opened there 1841). Population 123,851 (2020); seventh-largest Michigan city, about 40 miles from Detroit.
Athens, Ohio
Athens, also known as Athens, OH, is a city in southeastern Ohio on the Hocking River and the home of Ohio University, with 23,849 residents at the 2020 census.
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek, Michigan (Cereal City), largest city in Calhoun County, southwest Michigan; 2020 population 52,721; birthplace of the breakfast cereal industry via Kellogg, Post, and the Battle Creek Sanitarium; commission-manager government since 1961.
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City, Michigan: county seat of Bay County on the Saginaw River near Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. Founded 1857, incorporated 1865; a lumber-era sawmill port, later maker of pre-cut mail order homes; 2020 population 32,661.
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor, Michigan: a majority-Black Berrien County city of about 9,100 on the Paw Paw River near Lake Michigan, known for its 2018-2021 lead drinking water crisis, Whirlpool's presence, and neighboring twin city St. Joseph.
Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac, Michigan: Wexford County seat founded 1871 as Clam Lake by lumberman George A. Mitchell, incorporated 1877 and named for Detroit's founder; a lumber town turned manufacturing and tourism center between Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell.
Canton, Ohio
Canton, Ohio: county seat of Stark County, founded 1805, named after Canton, China; home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame; 2020 population 70,872, declining since its 1950 peak of 116,912.
Chillicothe, Ohio
Chillicothe, Ohio: city in Ross County on the Scioto River, founded 1796 and Ohio's first capital (1803–1809, 1812–1816); population 22,059 (2020); home to Hopewell Culture National Historical Park earthworks, a 2023 UNESCO World Heritage site.
Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio (founded 1788 as Losantiville, renamed 1790): major Ohio River city, seat of Hamilton County, population about 314,000, first American boomtown, "Queen City," anchor of a 2.1-million metro spanning Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio: city on Lake Erie at the Cuyahoga River mouth, founded 1796 by Moses Cleaveland, incorporated 1836, once the sixth largest US city, now a Great Lakes port and medical-education hub.
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio: state capital founded 1812 at the Scioto-Olentangy confluence, permanent capital since 1816. 14th largest US city, 905,748 residents (2020), growing metro of 2.24 million.
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio, county seat of Montgomery County at the confluence of the Great Miami, Stillwater, and Mad rivers, home of the Wright brothers' airplane invention, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn, Michigan: city in Wayne County near Detroit, founded 1786, incorporated 1929 by merging Fordson and Dearborn. Population 109,976 (2020); Ford Motor Company headquarters, The Henry Ford museum, and the first Arab-majority U.S. city.
Detroit
Detroit, the largest city in Michigan, was founded by the French in 1701 and grew into the heart of the American automotive industry as the Motor City.
Dublin, Ohio
Dublin, Ohio is a Columbus-area city founded in 1810 by John Sells and named by surveyor John Shields after Dublin, Ireland. Population 49,328 (2020); home to Cardinal Health, Muirfield Village, and the Dublin Irish Festival.
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing, Michigan: Ingham/Clinton county city incorporated 1907, named by the state Senate over local favorite College Park; home of Michigan State University (founded 1855), population 47,741 in 2020, council-manager government.
East Palestine, Ohio
East Palestine is a village in Columbiana County, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania line, with a 2020 population of 4,761, known nationally for the February 2023 Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that released hazardous chemicals.
Findlay, Ohio
Findlay, Ohio: county seat of Hancock County in northwestern Ohio on I-75, population 40,313 (2020). Founded from Fort Findlay (1812), boomed on 1880s gas, and hosts Marathon Petroleum headquarters.
Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan: a city and Genesee County seat, original home of General Motors, site of the 1936-37 UAW sit-down strike and the 2014-15 lead water crisis; 2020 population 81,252.
Frankenmuth, Michigan
Frankenmuth, Michigan, or Michigan's Little Bavaria, is a Saginaw County city founded in 1845 as a Franconian Lutheran mission colony by August Craemer under Wilhelm Loehe; about 5,000 residents, 3 million annual visitors, Bavarian-themed tourism.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan: second-largest Michigan city and Kent County seat on the Grand River, known as Furniture City; about 201,000 residents in 2025, commission-manager government since 1916.
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Grosse Pointe, Michigan: a 1.06-square-mile Lake St. Clair city in Wayne County, one of five Pointes bordering Detroit; 5,678 residents (2020), median household income $158,853, incorporated as a village in 1879.
Hamtramck, Michigan
Hamtramck, Michigan: a 2-square-mile Detroit enclave in Wayne County; 27,261 residents (2025 est.), 46.7% foreign-born, first all-Muslim US city council (2021), Polish industrial history, and recent election-fraud investigations.
History of Detroit
History of Detroit: founded July 24, 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac as Fort Pontchartrain du détroit; French, then British, then American; rose as the auto industry's Motor City, fourth-largest US city by 1920, then declined, filing the largest US municipal bankruptcy in 2013.
Holland, Michigan
Holland, Michigan: west Michigan city on Lake Macatawa, founded 1847 by Dutch Calvinist settlers under Albertus Van Raalte; known for Tulip Time, De Zwaan windmill, heated downtown sidewalks, Hope College; population 35,372 (2025 est.).
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton, Michigan: Upper Peninsula city on the Keweenaw Waterway, home of Michigan Technological University (founded 1885), gateway to the Keweenaw Peninsula, population about 8,560, among America's snowiest cities.
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson, Michigan: county seat of Jackson County in south-central Michigan, founded 1829, incorporated 1857. Council-manager city of about 31,000 on the Grand River headwaters, site of the first Republican Convention (1854).
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan: county-seat city in southwestern Michigan, founded 1831 as Bronson, population about 73,000; home of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, the Kalamazoo Promise tuition program, and the Foundation for Excellence.
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan, the state capital since 1847 in Ingham County at the Grand and Red Cedar rivers; incorporated 1859, population 112,644 (2020), home of the 1879 Michigan State Capitol and Olds automotive heritage.