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BHistory
History · Inkster

Inkster dates to 1825, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #277 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Inkster was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1957. Its Register listing is the Malcolm X House. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1930.

1825founded
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
16famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Inkster’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Inkster began

When was Inkster founded?

1825

Inkster dates its founding to 1825 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 4,440 in 19302020 census: 26,088201 years

How historic is Inkster?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1863.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Inkster’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Inkster is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #277 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Inkster’s overall grade.
Founding era1825, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19406.3% of homes (±1.8) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 61%

Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Inkster’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1825.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Inkster’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 39,097 in 1960; 26,088 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19058 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1996. Watch Inkster change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1825: 201 years of Inkster.Famous sons and daughtersGeraldine Doyle, Anavia Battle and 14 more were born here.
★ What stands out · People over time

Inkster, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00019401960198020002020Peak: 39,097

Peaked at 39,097 in 1960; 26,088 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Inkster’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Inkster on the map, 1905 to 1996

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Inkster. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Inkster on the 1905 USGS mapInkster on the 1912 USGS mapInkster on the 1936 USGS mapInkster on the 1942 USGS mapInkster on the 1968 USGS mapInkster on the 1973 USGS mapInkster on the 1983 USGS mapInkster on the 1996 USGS map1905Plymouth sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Inkster.

Timeline

Inkster, 1825 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825
    FoundingInkster is established
  3. 1863Post officeThe Inkster post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Eloise post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1924Born hereGeraldine Doyle is born here
  8. 1930In the archiveAttention folks, see Harry for beautiful Inkster lots, $20.00 down -- $5.00 monthly payme…
  9. 1942In the archiveInkster, Michigan. (vicinity). Typical Michigan farm
  10. 1943Born hereGeorgeanna Tillman is born here
  11. 1943Born hereWanda Young is born here
  12. 1950BuiltMalcolm X House is built
  13. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 39,097
  14. 1981Post officeThe Eloise post office closes
  15. 1999Born hereAnavia Battle is born here
The story

How Inkster came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Inkster.

Read it all →

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.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Inkster, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s–1940s5 items
Attention folks, see Harry for beautiful Inkster lots, $20.00 down -- $5.00 monthly payments. Willow-Run Development Co…c. 1930Attention folks, see Harry for beautiful Inkster lots…Inkster, Michigan. (vicinity). Typical Michigan farm1942Inkster, Michigan. (vicinity). Typical Michigan farmInkster, Michigan. (vicinity). Typical Michigan barn1942Inkster, Michigan. (vicinity). Typical Michigan barnUntitled photo, possibly related to: Inkster, Michigan. (vicinity). Typical Michigan barm1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Inkster, Michiga…Inkster (vicinity?), Michigan. Farmer using a cultivator on a farm. Typical farm truck1942Inkster (vicinity?), Michigan. Farmer using a cultiva…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Attention folks, see Harry for beautiful Inkster lots, $20.00 down -- $5.00 monthly payments. Willow-Run Development Co…
Retake this viewAttention folks, see Harry for beautiful Inkster lots, $20.00 down -- $5.00 monthly payments. Willow-Run Development Co…, c. 1930

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Inkster’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Inkster

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
Malcolm X House
Malcolm X House, built 1950
Buildings
All 1 listings
Malcolm X HouseBuilding · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

16 famous people were born in Inkster

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
G
Geraldine DoyleWorld War II inspirational figure · b. 1924
Anavia BattleAmerican sprinter · b. 1999
Georgeanna TillmanAmerican singer · b. 1943
Wanda YoungAmerican soprano · b. 1943
A
Albert WhiteAmerican basketball player · b. 1977
Gary WigginsAmerican jazz saxophonist · b. 1952
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Inkster’s post office has been open since 1863. Another post office, Eloise, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Inkster
1863–today
Eloise
1894–1981
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Eloise
Gone or out of use
Eloise Post Officepost officeEloise Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Inkster
Union ChapelWestwood

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Inkster’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAttention folks, see Harry for beautifu…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Dearborn HeightsIts storyDWestland2 historic placesC+

Questions about Inkster’s history

What year was Inkster founded?

In 1825, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Inkster’s post office opened in 1863, and the census of 1930 counted 4,440 people here.

How does Inkster rank for history?

Inkster is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #277 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Inkster?

One place: the Malcolm X House (listed 2021).

How old are the homes in Inkster?

6% of Inkster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1957.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.