24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Pontiac, MI

Pontiac is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, located about 26 miles northwest of downtown Detroit.

Pontiac was founded in 1818 where the Saginaw Trail crossed the Clinton River, making it Michigan's first inland settlement, and it was named after the noted Odawa chief Pontiac.

Pontiac was designated the Oakland County seat in 1820, became a village in 1837 — the same year Michigan gained statehood — and incorporated as a city in 1861.

Pontiac had a population of 61,606 at the 2020 census, living in 23,993 households, up from 59,515 in 2010 but well below its 1970 peak of 85,279.

In 1825, Elizabeth Denison purchased 48.5 acres in Pontiac and is believed to be the first Black woman to buy land in the new territory of Michigan.

Pontiac grew from a carriage-manufacturing center into an automotive capital under General Motors, and GM's famous Pontiac car brand was named after the city.

The Pontiac Silverdome, an 80,000-seat stadium that opened in 1975, was home to the Detroit Lions from 1975 to 2001 and also hosted Super Bowl XVI in 1982 and matches of soccer's 1994 World Cup before being demolished in December 2017.

The flu-like illness 'Pontiac fever' is named for this city, after a 1968 outbreak here was later linked to the Legionella bacterium.

To prevent flooding, Pontiac confined the Clinton River in concrete as it passes through downtown in 1963, though the city has since studied uncovering it.

From 2009 through 2013 Pontiac was run by state-appointed emergency financial managers, who sold off city assets — the Silverdome went for just $583,000 — and cut the city payroll from about 600 to 50 employees.