The Town of Dearborn was incorporated in 1893. Through much of the 19th century, the area was largely rural and dependent on agriculture. In 1889, The first telephone was installed in Dearborn at St. Joseph’s retreat. Stimulated by more industrial development in 1927, Dearborn was established as a city.
Henry Ford developed mass production of automobiles in Dearborn. The Henry Ford, the United States’ largest indoor-outdoor historic museum complex and Metro Detroit’s leading tourist attraction, is located here.
The Arab-American community, in 2005, opened the Arab American National Museum (AANM), the first museum in the world devoted to Arab-American history and culture.
The city has a small African American population, many of whose ancestors came to the area from the rural South during the Great Migration of the early twentieth century.
Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. University of Michigan–Dearborn and Henry Ford College are located in Dearborn.