Though nearby Detroit was discovered more than 80 years earlier by the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the area now known as Dearborn was not formally settled until 1783. The village of Dearborn, established in 1836, was named after Henry Dearborn, a general during the American Revolution who also served as Secretary of War under President Thomas Jefferson.

As the birthplace of Henry Ford, the former farming community would later give rise to the innovative spirit that revolutionized travel and sent the country breezing into the 1920's and beyond. 

Today Dearborn celebrates the second largest population of Arab Americans and is home to the first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history.  The rich history of Dearborn and the United States is preserved through several museums in Dearborn including the Henry Ford Museum, the Henry Ford Estate and the  Dearborn Historical Commission and Museum housed in the Commandant's Quarters, the McFadden-Ross Museum and the Exhibit Annex.