Warren (Michigan)

Warren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2020 Census places the city's population at 139,387, making Warren the largest city in Macomb County, the third largest city in Michigan, and Metro Detroit's largest suburb. The city is home to a wide variety of businesses, including General Motors Technical Center, the United States ArmyDetroit Arsenal, home of the United States Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command and the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), the headquarters of Big Boy Restaurants International, and Asset Acceptance. The current mayor is James R. Fouts, who was elected to his first mayoral term in November 2007. Beebe's Corners, the original settlement in what would become the city of Warren, was founded in 1830 at the corner of Mound Road and Chicago Road; its first resident was Charles Groesbeck. Beebe's Corners was a carriage stop between Detroit and Utica, and included a distillery, mill, tavern, and trading post. It was not until 1837 that the now-defunct Warren Township was organized around the settlement, first under the name Hickory, then renamed Aba in April 1838, and finally renamed Warren shortly thereafter. It was named for War of 1812 veteran, and frontier cleric, Rev. Abel Warren. However, when it was originally organized the township was named for Rev. Warren who was a Methodist Episcopal preacher who left his native New York in 1824 for Shelby Township. He went throughout the present-day Macomb, Lapeer, Oakland, and St. Clair Counties, baptizing, marrying, and burying pioneers of the area, as well as establishing congregations and preaching extensively. He was the first licensed preacher in the State of Michigan.