To those who think a city only 40 years old doesn't have an interesting history...think again.  After all, any city that came within an hour of being annexed by another town, and that contained active missile silos during the 1950s would certainly seem interesting to most people. In fact, the history of Riverview contains much more and goes back much further in time. It also reaches into the history of its neighbor to the south, the Village of Trenton and Monguagon Township.  In fact, one of the key reasons Trenton was settled in the first place was because it was the highest ground between the Downriver area and Toledo. And in a region comprised largely of swamps, high ground was valuable ground.  As Trenton became more and more settled, then, the lumber in what was known as the "river view" section of Monguagon Township became an important resource.  An even bigger resource was discovered later in the form of limestone, which was mined from a quarry that still operates near Sibley and Fort Street.  Originally owned by F.B. Sibley, the limestone quarry directly led to jobs and other industries, such as Quarry Lumber and a quarry store.  By the 1920s, Riverview extended only from what is now West Jefferson west to the railroad tracks.  The section from the tracks to what would become Fort Street was known as "Wyandotte Heights."  And while the area had a quarry, it lacked city water...which played an obvious limiting factor in the growth of the region.  As a result, in order to reach a critical mass necessary to bring water to the area, the areas merged...and in 1923, the Village of Riverview was incorporated, with Sam Vreeland elected first village president with a population of 704 and an annual budget of $20,000. " One of the first things they did after incorporating was vote to bring water to the area," said Gerald Perry, a retired Department of Public Works director and the unofficial historian of the city.  

The Village of Riverview remained intact until the late 1950s, when a resident drew up petitions to become a city.  Because the move would have left only a small section of Monguagon Township unincorporated, residents living there also opted to become part of Riverview.  But the change was not without conflict.  At the same time, Trenton officials were trying to annex Riverview to become part of their own city.  And when the two community groups bearing petitions left for Lansing in 1958, they arrived only an hour apart.  But Riverview's documents were submitted.  "If we had lost that (race)," Perry said, "Trenton would have followed up and we would now be part of Trenton."  That same year, a change was also made to the volunteer Fire Department.   For the first time, one man, on a rotating basis, was on duty at all times.  Over time, the number of people on duty gradually increased, but that change created the permanent part-time department, which still exists today.  In 1959, the City of Riverview's population grew to 6,700 and the annual budget increased to  $455,711.  The 1959 issue of  THE RIVERVIEW REVIEW newspaper Village+Township=City commemorating Riverview becoming a city  was donated to the city by longtime residents Sophia Daigle and Chris Ford.

The 1950s were also a time when Riverview was home to active Nike Ajax missile silos, located behind what is now City Hall.  The missiles were part of a national nuclear response system. The Nike Missile site ( site D-54 )  was here to protect the Metro Detroit Area, specifically the automobile and steel industries.  The Nike missile systems were set up in a "ring" around the area that they were to protect.  The lower part of the Detroit ring was made up of sites D-51 on Grosse Ile, D-54 in Riverview, D57/58 in Newport/Carleton, and D-61 at Metro Airport.  Cleveland had it's own "ring".   D-54 (along with D-51) was deactivated in February of 1963, due to the advent of a newer version of the Nike missile called the Hercules, which had a longer range.  This longer range allowed for fewer missile sites to protect the same area so Riverview was one of the sites that was not upgraded to Hercules and  was  shut  down.   D-58  and  D-61  were    upgraded   to  Hercules   and  covered   the  area  that   D-51  and  D-54 were set up for.  There is a little more information along with aerial photos on a website at http://nikehercules.tripod.com/d-54.html, if you are interested.  The radar station operating the silos was located on Pennsylvania Road. 

The Plaque reads: This was once the site of an Army Anti-Aircraft Missle Base, Battery C, 85th AA Guided Missile Battalion which provided air defense to our community from 1956 to 1962.
This Nike Missile Dedicated July 4, 1980 City of Riverview, Mayor: Peter Rotteveel. Council: Jay C. Brown, Donald R. Capezza, Thomas Iverson, Jack Kesterson, Honor Shoemaker, Jill Zick.