What is the history of Oak Park, Michigan?
Oak Park officially became a city on October 30, 1945 when the state of Michigan accepted the city charter. Planned developments in the late 1950s resulted in Oak Park being named “America’s Fastest Growing City” at one point. Major civic improvements in this period included the addition of an outdoor swimming pool and an ice rink in Major Park (now known as Shepherd Park, after former mayor David Shepherd, but long known informally as Oak Park Park). Oak Park is home to six of the steel and ceramic houses built by the Lustron company in the early 1950s, which provided an inexpensive type of shelter for servicemen returning from World War II. They can be found on Oneida St., just North of 9 Mile road. Oak Park grew into a quiet city of one-story houses, sidewalks, trees, and backyards. For many years it has had the feeling of a small town, even though it borders the city of
