Best Web Design in Fraser, MI (2026)

Web Design for Fraser, Michigan

Fraser is a nearly square, 4.16-square-mile city in southern Macomb County, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Detroit, that grew out of a German farming crossroads on the old Utica Plank Road. It exploded from a rural village of 1,379 people in 1950 to a full Detroit auto-belt suburb of more than 14,700 today, and it is best known regionally as a youth-hockey capital thanks to its sprawling multi-rink ice complex.

AppWT works with Fraser businesses from Livonia, a short drive away.

About Fraser

Also known as. A Centennial Community (official city motto). McPhersonville (the town's official name from 1860 to 1863).

History. The crossroads community began around 1851 when the Detroit & Erin Plank Road Company started building the Utica Plank Road (today's Utica Road) from the Gratiot Turnpike toward Utica. Early German settlers included George Fleischut, John Oehmke, Justus Wormsbacher, Christopher and Sophia Arnes, the Rattman family, and Fred Eberlein; Eberlein opened a blacksmith shop in 1856, the settlement's first business. A Detroit lawyer named Alexander J. Frazer arrived about 1857-1858, and the town took its name from him (though spelled 'Fraser,' not 'Frazer'). In 1858 the Chicago, Detroit and Canada Grand Trunk Junction Railroad bought a right-of-way through town and later built a depot on what is still called Depot Road. The first postmaster, Leonard Scott, was appointed in 1860; when David McPherson took the post the town was briefly renamed McPhersonville, before reverting to Fraser in 1863. The village of Fraser was incorporated by the state legislature in 1894, and the city was established under a home-rule charter approved November 7, 1956, and adopted by voters December 26, 1956. The city's population jumped from 1,379 in 1950 to 7,027 in 1960, a 409.6% increase, as Detroit's postwar suburban boom filled in the farmland.

Local economy. Fraser sits inside metro Detroit's automotive manufacturing belt, bordered by Warren, Sterling Heights, Roseville, and Clinton Township, and functions largely as a residential and small-industrial suburb. M-97 (Groesbeck Highway) runs through the southeastern part of the city, tying it into the regional supplier-and-commuter corridor. Fraser Public Schools is a major local institution and employer, and the district scores above Michigan averages on state testing. The city is home to August Charles Fruehauf, founder of the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation, a pioneer of the modern semi-trailer. At 3,484 people per square mile across just 4.16 square miles, the city is classified as 100% urban with no rural residents.

Culture and community. Big Boy Arena (formerly Fraser Hockeyland and Great Lakes Sports City) is a roughly 20,000-square-foot, five-rink ice-and-skating complex whose largest sheet is a 3,400-seat stadium arena. That arena was home ice for the Motor City Mechanics of the former United Hockey League and hosted the Metro Jets junior and youth hockey organization from 2015 to 2021. Fraser High School's teams are the Ramblers, competing in the Macomb Area Conference. The community traces a strong German settler heritage back to its founding families in the 1850s. Notable people from Fraser include MLB Cy Young winner Pat Hentgen, NHL forward Chad LaRose, Colts quarterback Jim Sorgi, MLB pitcher Joe Decker, comic magician Amazing Johnathan, and actress Maribeth Monroe. The Arts Academy in the Woods, a tuition-free public charter school focused on fine and performing arts, operates in the city.

What makes Fraser distinct. The town was officially renamed McPhersonville in 1860, then switched back to Fraser in 1863. Fraser is named for lawyer Alexander J. Frazer, yet the spelling was changed to 'Fraser.' Its population grew more than 400% in a single decade (the 1950s). Fraser Hockeyland's five rinks make a city of under 15,000 people a nationally recognized destination for youth and amateur hockey.

Fraser is a 4.16 square mile suburb in Macomb County about 15 miles northeast of downtown Detroit, named for Detroit lawyer Alexander J. Frazer and home to 14,726 residents at the 2020 census

Notable. City motto: A Centennial Community.

Fraser Landmarks and Local Life

• Baumgartner House Museum - 1875 brick home built by German immigrant John C. Baumgartner and operated as a city museum
• Hemme Barn - Historic barn preserved on the Baumgartner House museum grounds by the Fraser Historical Commission
• The Depot - Preserved depot at Masonic and Kelly Road maintained by the Fraser Historical Commission
• McKinley Barrier-Free Park - Barrier-free playground built in three phases by the Fraser First Booster Club for children and adults of all abilities
• Steffens Park - City park near Fraser City Hall with planned additions of an amphitheater, splash pad, and walking path

Fraser at a Glance

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023.

• Median household income: $61,118
• Adults with a bachelor degree or higher: 21.1%
• Housing: 72.7% of occupied housing units are owner-occupied
• Housing: 63.5% of housing units are single-family detached homes