1952 Map of Pontiac North

About this map

The urban core of Pontiac and its sprawling northern lake district are caught in a period of significant post-war expansion. The industrial and institutional character of the city is anchored by the massive Pontiac State Hospital complex and several major healthcare and civic landmarks like the County Home and General Hospital. Transportation is dominated by the Grand Trunk railroad corridor, which carves through the city toward the outlying lakefront communities. To the north, the landscape shifts into a dense network of glacial lakes, including Lake Oakland and Lake Angelus, where residential developments like Elizabeth Lake Estates and Huron Gardens were rapidly filling in. The sheer density of neighborhood schools, from Washington Jr High Sch to Longfellow Sch, illustrates the demographic boom of the early 1950s in Oakland County.