Jackson, Michigan | |
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City | |
City of Jackson | |
Nickname(s): The Rose City, JAC, Prison City, J-Town, Jacktown, The Jack, | |
Location of Jackson within Jackson County, Michigan |
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Location in the United States | |
Coordinates: 42°14′39″N 84°24′26″W / 42.24417°N 84.40722°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Michigan |
County | Jackson |
Government | |
• Type | Council-Manager |
• Mayor | Bill Jors |
• City Manager | Patrick Burtch |
Area | |
• City | 10.99 sq mi (28.46 km2) |
• Land | 10.87 sq mi (28.15 km2) |
• Water | 0.12 sq mi (0.31 km2) |
Elevation | 932 ft (284 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• City | 33,534 |
• Estimate (2016) | 32,918 |
• Density | 3,100/sq mi (1,200/km2) |
• Metro | 159,748 (US: 251th) |
Time zone | EST (UTC−5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
ZIP codes | 49201-49204 |
Area code(s) | 517 |
FIPS code | 26-41420 |
GNIS feature ID | 0629165 |
Website | www |
Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Ann Arbor and 35 miles (56 km) south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Jackson County and has a population of 160,248.
It was founded in 1829 and named after President Andrew Jackson.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.99 square miles (28.46 km2), of which 10.87 square miles (28.15 km2) is land and 0.12 square miles (0.31 km2) is water.
On July 3, 1829, Horace Blackman, accompanied by Alexander Laverty, a land surveyor, and an Indian guide forded the Grand River and made camp for the night at what is now Trail and N. Jackson Street. They arrived in Jackson on a well-traveled Indian trail leading west from Ann Arbor. Blackman hired Laverty and Pewytum to guide him west. Blackman returned to Ann Arbor and then Monroe and registered his claim for 160 acres (65 ha) at two dollars an acre. Blackman returned to Jackson in August 1829, with his brother Russell. Together they cleared land and built a cabin on the corner of what would become Ingham and Trail streets. The town was first called Jacksonopolis. Later, it was renamed Jacksonburgh. Finally, in 1838 the town's name was changed to simply Jackson.
Jackson is one of the birthplaces of the Republican Party. Undisputed is the fact that the first official meeting of the group that called itself "Republican" was held in Jackson Under the Oaks on July 6, 1854. A Michigan historical marker at what is now the northwest corner of Second and Franklin streets in Jackson commemorates an anti-slavery county convention on July 6, 1854. Meeting outside to avoid a hot, over-crowded hall, the group ultimately selected a slate of candidates for state elections. The marker identifies this as the birth of the Republican Party. The site, an oak grove on "Morgan's Forty", then on the outskirts of town, became known as "Under the Oaks".