Pontiac Village & City Histories
Pontiac was the first prominent settlement planted in the interior of Michigan, --the first one located beyond the cordon of tangled forest and dread morass which surrounded Detroit, and which was popularly supposed to be but the vestibule of a vast, uninhabitable wilderness, whose lands were barren, and where nothing but wild beasts, migratory birds, and venomous reptiles were ever destined to find an abode,--an unknown.
History of Oakland County, Michigan, 1877.
Following is a table of contents for the history of Pontiac Village and City, broken down into decades and individual subjects. (The subject of Pontiac Township is in another section of this site.)
1810s - initial survey, earliest settlers, etc.
1820s - dividing the initial patent, early settlers, Indians, more
1830s - settlers, business and life in Pontiac during the '30s
1840s - settlers, business and life in Pontiac during the '40s
1850s - a glimpse of Pontiac life in the 1850s
1860s - town business conducted in the 1860s
1870s - with a brief description of Pontiac in 1877
City Civil Positions (primarily elected) - lots of names here
Education, with a list of high school graduates
Fire Department with a link to the fire of 1840
The Post Office with a list of postmasters