Next door to Southgate is the city of “Wyandotte.” John Biddle founded the village of Wyandotte on December 12th, 1854. The village of Wyandotte became the City of Wyandotte on April 8th, 1867. Major John Biddle was the first pioneer to explore the city of Wyandotte. He was an officer in the U.S. Army during the war of 1812, and also, the mayor of Detroit. Major Biddle had a farm that he called, “The Wyandotte” after his neighbors to the south, referring to the “Wyandot Indians,” which are part of the “Huron Indian Nation.” Major John Biddle’s farm is where the city of Wyandotte got its name. He owned an abundance of land surrounding the area which was then sold to other people who were looking to farm as well. The land was used as a lot for hunting and fishing for the Wyandot Indians, and the French.
Next to Wyandotte is the city of “Ecorse.” Ecorse lies along the Detroit River and is one of several contiguous southern suburbs of Detroit known as the “Downriver Communities”. It was settled about 1795 on the site of a Native American “Camp and Burial Ground.” The city of Ecorse was once called, “Grandport.” The main road that went through this city was once called “River Road” and later changed to “West Jefferson Avenue”.
The early French settlers named the city, "River Aux Echorches," which meant "The River of the Barks." The city was so named because Indians used to gather by a small stream there to strip bark for building canoes. It was a village in 1903 and then became a city in 1942. Many French settlers whose last names were “Riopelle, Rousseau, Salliotte,
Corner of Oak Street and Biddle Avenue in Wyandotte, Michigan in 1895