Dearborn was an outpost on the western frontier. Because of expansion from Detroit and Indian disturbances to the west, in 1833 the federal government began construction of an arsenal on its military reserve land near where the old Sank Trail crossed the Rouge River. The strategic Detroit Arsenal at Dearbornville offered easy access to Detroit and to military objectives to the south and west by land and by water. The buildings and land were sold after the arsenal closed in 1875.
