[6] The area comprising what is now the city of Birmingham was part of land ceded by Native American tribes to the United States government by the 1807 Treaty of Detroit.

Afterward the Surveyor-General of the United States, Edward Tiffin, made an unfavorable report regarding the placement of Military Bounty Lands for veterans of the War of 1812.

[8][9] Tiffin's report claimed that, because of marsh, in this area "There would not be an acre out of a hundred, if there would be one out of a thousand that would, in any case, admit cultivation."

Not long after Cass issued a more encouraging report about the land, interest quickened as to its suitability for settlement.

[10] In March 1818, John W. Hunter and his brother Daniel left Auburn, New York, by sleigh and traveled to Michigan by way of Upper Canada.

They waited in Detroit for their father and other family members, who arrived by schooner via Lake Erie in July.

Lacking a proper land survey, Hunter mistakenly built his log house on a tract later purchased by Elijah Willits.

For a time, all three men, John W. Hunter, Hamilton, and Willits, operated hotels and taverns from their houses within a short distance from each other.

The settlement's original plat was surveyed and recorded on August 25, 1836, in the northwest quarter of section 36, then owned by Rosewell T. Merrill, who also ran the town foundry and the thrashing machine factory.

Birmingham enjoys high education rates, with 77.9% of adults[16] having obtained a bachelor's degree, or higher.

Settlers founded the First United Methodist Church in 1821 and conducted services in Elijah Willets' tavern.

George H. Mitchell and Almeron Whitehead were two of a small group of bachelors who had formed a club called The Eccentrics; they published a newspaper of the same name, issuing the first edition on May 2, 1878.

At a price of 2 cents, The Eccentric provided a "live home paper, replete with all the news of the day", with considerable emphasis on the "local items of importance occurring in Birmingham and immediate vicinity".

By the turn of the 20th century, The Eccentric ran advertisements for Detroit stores and theaters, as well as offers of property and houses suitable for the "commuter".

Today, the Birmingham Eccentric newspaper continues its role as reporter of the community's local news.

[21] In 1923, a group of friends formed The Village Players of Birmingham, a private theatre club.

[24] The city has more than twenty parks, with many amenities, including tennis and pickleball courts, baseball diamonds, playgrounds, golf courses, sledding hills, nature trails, picnic areas, and deep woods.

Shain Park, the city's main commons, is the site of the Village Fair, art shows, summer music concerts and numerous community events.

There are over 120,000 books in the library, along with CDs, DVDs, periodicals, educational toys, databases and free Wi-Fi.

In 1839, the railroad tracks were extended to Birmingham with two steam trains a day running to Detroit.

On June 18, 1896, the Oakland Railway, the electric interurban, was constructed to Birmingham; it provided service to Detroit in 40 minutes.

Class one freight rail service is provided by Canadian National Railway (CN).

It provided commuter rail service from Pontiac to downtown Detroit with a stop in Birmingham.

The Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA) took control of this service in 1974 but it was ended on October 17, 1983, after subsidies were discontinued.