Pontiac, Michigan
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Pontiac City. It lies in ZIP code area 48342. It stands on Pontiac Creek. The Survey maps it on the Pontiac North quadrangle. 61,606 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 922 feet above sea level.
On record in Pontiac
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 12 of 19 shown
Casa del Rey Apartmentslisted 1989
Central Schoollisted 1984
Eagle Theaterlisted 1984
Eastern Michigan Asylum Historic Districtlisted 1981
Fairgrove Avenue Historic Districtlisted 1985
Franklin Boulevard Historic Districtlisted 1983
Gillespie Street-Clinton River Bridgelisted 2000
Grinnell Brothers Music Houselisted 1984
Horatio N. Howard Houselisted 1984
Modern Housing Corporation Addition Historic Districtlisted 1989
Myrick-Palmer Houselisted 1970
Oak Hill Cemeterylisted 1989
Population over time
3 figuresPontiac grew from 1,904 to 61,606 between 1840 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1840 | 1,904 | |
| 2010 | 59,515 | |
| 2020 | 61,606 | +2,091 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 21 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1907 USGS Pontiac quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1936 USGS Pontiac North quadrangle1:31680
- 1943 USGS Pontiac North quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1952 USGS Pontiac North quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Detroit quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Detroit quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Detroit quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Pontiac North quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1985 USGS Pontiac quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Pontiac North quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
29 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Pontiac between 2018 and 2020, burning about 29 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP FD 0003804 - 2019 |
| 17 August 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WATERFORD TOWNSHIP FD 0008643 - 2019 |
| 1 August 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ROCHESTER HILLS FD 0004453 - 2019 |
| 4 July 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | AUBURN HILLS FD 0001651 - 2020 |
| 3 July 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WATERFORD TOWNSHIP FD 0006862 - 2019 |
| 13 July 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP FD 0003315 - 2019 |
| 13 July 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WATERFORD TOWNSHIP FD 0007257 - 2019 |
| 11 July 2019 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WATERFORD TOWNSHIP FD 0007188 - 2019 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Pontiac: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bald Mt Plant No. 3 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Underwood Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pontiac in 9 storm reports between 1999 and 2011: 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2000 | Flash Flood | Pontiac | $125,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pontiac | $45,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pontiac | $16,000 | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pontiac | $10,000 | A few trees were reported blown down, which took down power lines. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pontiac | $10,000 | A National Weather Service employee reported numerous large trees down throughout a subdivision near Waterford. A local newspaper confirmed reports of widespread trees down all across Waterford Township. A few homes received minor damages. |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pontiac | $5,000 | Trees limbs were downed, fencing destroyed, and windows of a home were damaged near Elizabeth Lake and Cooley Lake in Waterford. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pontiac | - | A trained spotter estimated a 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust. |
| July 2000 | Hail | Pontiac | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Pontiac | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvan Lake | 2.7 miles | 21 | |
| Oak Grove | 3.0 miles | 17 | |
| Keego Harbor | 3.5 miles | 21 | |
| Auburn Heights | 3.6 miles | 21 | |
| Lake Angelus | 4.3 miles | 21 | |
| Auburn Hills | 4.5 miles | 21 | |
| Bloomfield Hills | 4.5 miles | 17 | |
| Clintonville | 4.9 miles | 21 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Pontiac | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q847596 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 635224. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









