The earliest known residents of this area, of course, were indigenous people from various tribes: the Hurons, Ottawas, Ojibwas, Pottawatomies, and Iroquois. Fort Pontchartrain was established in 1701 in what became Detroit. The first stable roads in the area were along Grand River and Woodward. In 1817 the state of Michigan was divided into counties, and the counties were then further divided into townships of 36 sections. The first know settler of the Southfield Township area was a man named John Daniels, who began residence in 1823. In the early years of Oakland County, two southern townships were considered one, and were referred to as Bloomfield Township. In July 1830, the southern half of Bloomfield Township was designated as Ossewa Township, and 17 days later a group of citizens petitioned the state to change its name to Southfield Township. This became the area bounded by Eight Mile Road, Greenfield Road, Fourteen Mile Road, and Inkster Road.
By law, cities and townships are considered “stand-alone” communities. State law says that villages must be part of a township, and townships are statutorily required to collect school and county taxes, hold village, state, and national elections, and provide assessing services. Other services provided by the Township are collaborative efforts to reduce costs to the villages.