From 1949 to 2018, it was the site of the Hazel Park Raceway, considered a high-quality facility originally used for both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing.

This area was long occupied by indigenous peoples, with such historic and current tribes as the Potawatomi and others known to European fur traders and colonists from the 17th century.

In the later 19th century, as westward migration increased from the eastern United States to the Great Lakes territories, this area was settled by European Americans.

In 1884, John W. Benjamine petitioned the state of Michigan to form a school district from Royal Oak Township.

The first Hazel Park school had been sold to Frank Neusius, who used it as a barber shop and neighborhood grocery.

The electric Stephenson Line was a convenient way for commuters to travel by trolley to Highland Park and Detroit.

[7] During the 1930s and 1940s, rallies and community events helped the city during the Great Depression and the years of World War II.

Large parts of the auto industry were converted to production of defense-related goods, and thousands of people migrated into the area for new jobs.

The Elias brothers continued to open Big Boy restaurants throughout the Metro Detroit area and in 1983 purchased the franchiser.

With the return of thousands of soldiers from World War II, housing demand was very high in the area.

The new owner wanted to use the large property to develop new warehouse space for an Amazon distribution center.

In 1966 the Interstate 75 (I-75) freeway was fully completed through Hazel Park, as part of the postwar highway construction subsidized by the federal government.

Similarly, I-696 was constructed through the neighboring city of Madison Heights in 1979; it joins the two freeways and creating a busy junction with I-75, part of which extends into Hazel Park's north end.

Many of the city's houses were built in the Cape Cod bungalow style, shortly after World War Two, and have a second story encompassed in the home's roofing.

They can be seen on many blocks of Hazel Park, and often range from two-story snout houses to detached single-family brownstones.

The first Harmony House music store opened in Hazel Park's Central Business District in 1947.

Small shopping centers, office parks, and sidewalk access stores are characteristic of the John R. corridor through the city.

Nine Mile Road has a more suburban assortment of businesses, many of which are restaurants, churches, and slightly larger shopping centers.

The current mayor of Hazel Park is Michael Webb, who succeeded Jeffrey Keeton.

Jan Parisi, the city's first woman mayor, resigned in 2016 due to health-and family-related reasons.

[9] Current city council members are Alissa Sullivan, who also serves as Mayor Pro Tem, Andy LeCureaux, Luke Londo, and Mike McFall.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.82 square miles (7.30 km2), all land.

[16] Hazel Park is adjacent to the cities of Detroit to the south, Ferndale to the west, Royal Oak to the northwest, Madison Heights to the north, and Warren to the east.

The city has the second-largest proportion of Native American residents in Oakland County, after Keego Harbor.

Lee O. Clark has since been demolished, and Henry Ford has been converted into the School District Administration Building.

Hazel Park has followed a recent trend in Metro Detroit suburbs by the consolidation of its middle schools.

Webb was converted to an elementary school in 2004, and Beecher was torn down and re-built, commissioned as Hazel Park Junior High.

The school operates mainly in the Hazel Park-Ferndale-Pleasant Ridge area, but also serves the rest of Oakland County, especially the south east.