Metro Detroit Macomb County City
Eastpointe
Halfway, East Detroit, Eastpointe: three names and one legendary square pizza
- People (2025 estimate)
- 33,814
- Land area
- 5.2 sq mi · 13.4 km²
- From downtown
- 10.6 miles · 17 km · northeast
- Incorporated
- 1929
Nothing on our calendar here this week yet.
01 / Why it matters
Why Eastpointe matters
Eastpointe starts on the north side of 8 Mile, next to Detroit and Harper Woods, along Gratiot Avenue. Irish and German farmers settled here in the 1830s, and the post office got the name Half-way in 1897 because it sat at the midpoint of the stagecoach run between Detroit and Mount Clemens.
It was a city called East Detroit from 1929, but in the 1980s many residents felt the name was dragging down home values and scaring off developers. In 1992 they voted for a new name, one that points toward the Grosse Pointes instead.
The first Art Van furniture store opened on Gratiot here in 1959, and since 1953 the Cloverleaf has been baking the square pizza Gus and Anna Guerra invented in Detroit. In 2019 Eastpointe became the first city in Michigan to elect its council with ranked-choice voting, as part of a voting-rights settlement with the US Justice Department.
02 / Known for
What Eastpointe is known for
The 1992 name change from East Detroit to Eastpointe, meant to put some distance between the suburb and Detroit's name.
The Cloverleaf: Gus and Anna Guerra, creators of Detroit-style pizza, sold Buddy's in 1953 and moved their square pies here.
The first Art Van furniture store opened at 10 Mile and Gratiot in 1959; the chain closed in 2020.
In 2019 it became the first Michigan city to use ranked-choice voting for its council elections.
The 1872 Halfway Schoolhouse, a nearly unaltered one-room school, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
03 / What’s on
What’s on in Eastpointe
Nothing on our calendar in Eastpointe right now. Try the neighbors:
04 / Places
4 places on our site in Eastpointe
05 / What to do
If you’re in Eastpointe
Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant
Square pizza on Gratiot since 1953, the Guerra way; the Detroit Free Press named it its Classic Restaurant of 2020.
Official site ↗Michigan Military Technical & Historical Society
A military museum on Stephens Road that opened on November 11, 2011, with 11,000 square feet of vehicles, weapons and uniforms telling Michigan's story from World War I to today.
Official site ↗
06 / History
Eastpointe through the years
- 1872
The shared Erin and Warren township school, today's Halfway Schoolhouse, is built; classes run there until 1921.
- 1897
In October a post office named Half-way opens at the midpoint of the Detroit to Mount Clemens stage run.
- 1924
The Village of Halfway incorporates in December.
- 1929
It reincorporates as the City of East Detroit in January.
- 1992
Residents vote to rename the city Eastpointe.
- 2019
As part of a voting-rights settlement, the city council is elected by ranked-choice voting for the first time.
07 / People
Famous names from here
- Jerry M. Linenger The astronaut, born in 1955, grew up in East Detroit and graduated from East Detroit High; in 1997 he spent 132 days in space, mostly aboard the Mir station.
- Alice Cooper The godfather of shock rock lived in East Detroit as a kid, on Lincoln Avenue.
Sources
Population and area are Census Bureau figures (Eastpointe city).
- 2020 Census, Michigan (PL 94-171)
- Census Bureau population estimates: cities and towns
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastpointe,_Michigan
- content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1969543_1969557_1969586,00.html
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy%27s_Pizza
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit-style_pizza
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Van_Furniture
- fairvote.org/_eastpointe_michigan_to_become_first_in_state_to_implement_ranked_choice_voting
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin%E2%80%93Warren_Fractional_District_No._2_Schoolhouse
- mimths.org
- motorcities.org/locations/michigan-military-technical-historical-society
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_M._Linenger
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cooper
- eastpointemi.gov
Change since 2020, per the Census Bureau estimate: −1.5 percent.
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