Best Web Design in St. Clair Shores, MI (2026)

Web Design for St. Clair Shores, Michigan

St. Clair Shores is an inner-ring Detroit suburb strung along the west shore of Lake St. Clair in southern Macomb County, about 14 miles northeast of downtown Detroit. Its identity is water: the mile-long Nautical Mile on Jefferson Avenue holds one of the Midwest's densest clusters of marinas and boat dealers, a legacy that runs from Prohibition-era lakefront roadhouses to today's summer boating culture.

AppWT works with St. Clair Shores businesses from Livonia, a short drive away.

About St. Clair Shores

Also known as. The Shores. SCS. Boating Capital of Michigan. Gateway to the Great Lakes.

History. French settlers were present along the lake as early as 1710, when the area was known as L'anse Creuse ('the shallow cove') Remained largely rural farmland worked by French and German immigrant families into the early 20th century Incorporated as a village in 1925, then voted to become the city of St. Clair Shores in January 1951 after several earlier attempts Beginning around World War I and peaking during Prohibition, the lakefront became a playground of roadhouses, blind pigs, and rum-runners exploiting the short water crossing to Canada, epitomized by the Blossom Heath Inn The Jefferson Beach Amusement Park operated from 1927 to 1959, once advertising the longest roller coaster in the United States; after a 1955 fire the site became the Jefferson Beach Marina

Local economy. Anchored by the Nautical Mile, a strip of Jefferson Avenue between Nine Mile and Ten Mile roads billed as the largest concentration of public marinas and boat dealerships in the Midwest Boating, marine sales, and marina services form a core part of the local commercial identity Functions primarily as a residential inner-ring suburb of Detroit with a population of 58,874 as of the 2020 census

Culture and community. The St. Clair Shores Memorial Day Parade is one of the longest-running community parades in the region, marking its 73rd annual edition Hockey legend Gordie Howe and his wife Colleen built 'Gordie Howe Hockeyland' in the city in 1964, a rink complex with a training school Crow's Nest East, a short-lived late-1960s club here, hosted rising Detroit-scene acts including the MC5, Iggy Pop's Stooges, Bob Seger, and The Frost The Miss St. Clair Shores Scholarship Program, running since 1953, is the longest continuously held Miss America preliminary pageant in Michigan A free Thursday-night trolley runs the Nautical Mile through the summer, linking its lakeside restaurants and marinas

What makes St. Clair Shores distinct. Despite its size, the city packs the Midwest's largest cluster of public marinas and boat dealerships into a single mile of Jefferson Avenue Its Prohibition-era lakefront thrived on smuggling liquor across the narrow water gap from Canada A tiny 1960s St. Clair Shores club helped launch bands central to Detroit's proto-punk and rock legacy Home to a hockey rink built by Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, decades before his name went on the international bridge

St. Clair Shores is a lakefront suburb of about 58,874 residents on the western shore of Lake St. Clair, roughly 14 miles northeast of downtown Detroit, with 14 miles of canals that support its boating culture

Notable. Recognized as the largest village in the United States before its residents voted to incorporate as a city in 1951.

St. Clair Shores Landmarks and Local Life

• The Nautical Mile - Waterfront district along Jefferson Avenue between Nine Mile and Ten Mile roads with marinas, boat dealers, and retail establishments
• Blossom Heath Inn - Roadhouse built in 1911 as the Kramerhof, renamed the Blossom Heath Inn by William McIntosh in 1920, and purchased by the village of St. Clair Shores in 1946
• Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum - Saltbox log farmhouse built by Polish immigrant settlers who arrived in Erin Township in 1868, now located behind the public library and operated by the city Historical Commission
• Veterans Memorial Park - Park that hosts most city special events and summer concerts with a splash pad, fishing area, and rentable pavilions
• Blossom Heath Park - City park with pavilion rentals and the Blossom Heath Activity Pier funded as a ten million dollar Tax Increment Financing Authority project

St. Clair Shores at a Glance

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023.

• Median household income: $72,693
• Adults with a bachelor degree or higher: 29.4%
• Housing: 83.4% of occupied housing units are owner-occupied
• Housing: 81.8% of housing units are single-family detached homes