During World War II, Nan-Bar Airport served as an accessory airfield for Naval Air Station Grosse Ile. The grass airfield was known as Nan-Bar Airport, named for the owner's two daughters, Nancy and Barbara. The area was incorporated as a village in 1923 and as a city in 1965.įrom the 1930s until the early 1960s an airport was located in Flat Rock. The Flat Rock Dam was constructed to provide hydroelectricity to the factory. Henry Ford was attracted to the water power of the Huron River, and in 1925 he established the Ford Motor Company Lamp Factory along its banks. They were attempting to build a canal to connect Lake Erie with Lake Michigan. The village of Flat Rock was platted and recorded in 1838 by the Gibraltar and Flat Rock Land Co. By 1828 the village had four stores, two saw mills, a wool carding mill, a flour mill, and 250 inhabitants - serving as a center mainly for farmers who lived in the area immediately surrounding the settlement. With the Erie Canal opening in 1825, many people, especially from New York, came to Michigan to settle. At this time there were Huron, Seneca, and Wyandot Indian villages in the area. Vreeland and Smooth Rock villages were platted on part of this acreage. In 1824 it was sold to Michael and Jacob Vreeland. In 1818, a land office opened in Detroit, and Soloman Sibley purchased 330.93 acres (1.3392 km 2) of land. In describing his parish in 1798 he included 'Grosse Roche', referring to a settlement named after the outcropping of limestone rock on the south side of the Huron River. The first mention of any settlers in the area later to become Flat Rock was made by a French priest, Father Jean Dilhet. Descendants of Michael Vreeland still live in the town and attend Flat Rock public schools, being the seventh generation to reside in the town their family founded. The Vreeland families built the first grain and lumber mill, having brought the grinding stones from New York. The town was called the 'Village of Vreeland' until 1838, when the Vreeland family sold off most of the land and relinquished control of the area. The family purchased 800 acres (3.2 km 2). Vreeland had been captured by British Rangers during the Revolutionary War and released after American independence. The first European-American settlers in Flat Rock were Michael Vreeland and his five grown sons between 18.

It was later designated as a reservation for the Wyandot, and still functioned as such in 1830. History įlat Rock began as a Wyandot settlement. At the 2020 census, the population was 10,541. Flat Rock is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States, with a small portion of the city extending into Monroe County.

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