Dundee, Michigan has played a major role in the lives of many of the Heiden, Rambow, Roggerman and Getty families since the early ancestors arrived from Germany and Ireland in the late 1800s.

The town was first settled by Europeans in 1823 and became incorporated as a village in 1855. By 1880, it had grown to a population of 932 and by 2020, the village was home to 5,323 people. From the 1950s to 2000, about 2,000 to 3,000 people lived in Dundee.

The village is nicknamed the "Hub of the Highways" due to the intersection of major historic thoroughfares within its boundaries (specifically present-day M-50 and U.S. Route 23).

Many of the people in the four families lived in nearby Raisinville Township. From William and Mary Heiden's house on Dixon Road, it was about seven miles to Dundee.

Home - The Village of Dundee and Dundee Township was home to at least 15 Heiden related families.

School - Dundee High School was established on the corner of Adams and Ypsilanti Streets in the early part of the 20th century. At that time, students went to small rural schools through the 8th grade. To go on to high school, they would have to be able to make their own way into town each day on their own. For instance when my mother, Mildred (Roggerman) Heiden graduated in 1931, there were only 28 students in her class and most of them lived in town.

In the late 1940s, Dundee Community Schools, known as the Vikings, was established. This consolidated many one room schools throughout Dundee Township and much of Raisinville Township into one system. Students from rural areas were then bussed into town for the school day. Large numbers of children from the Heiden and other families got their education in Dundee.

Employment - Some members of our family worked in Dundee at such places as Dundee Products, Wolverine Fabricating, Dundee Feed Mill, Waterstreet Texaco Station, Brewer's Chicken Nursery, Williams Plymouth Dealership and others.

Marketplace - Dundee was home to a livestock auction and Karner's Elevator bought corn, soybeans and other field crops. Farm equipment dealers such as Salenbien's International Harvester dealer was located in town.

Shopping - Downtown Dundee was in the form of a triangle with small shops on each side. There were a couple of hardware stores, clothing stores, Weher's meat market, Kroger store, bank, Stuwe's Pharmacy, Coffee Cup restaurant and several of what we used to call "Beer Gardens". The Dairy Bar, Tastee Freeze and Mitchell's were favorite spots for ice cream and snacks. In the early 1950s, there was a Detroit Edison store where you could take your worn out light bulbs and trade them in for free new ones. It was located next to the candy store run by an old couple named Moore. The post office was a few doors down the street.

Entertainment - There was a small movie theater in town during the 1950s where you could see a double feature, have popcorn, candy and a coke for around 50 cents. A Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on the east side of town held Friday night fish fries and hosted wedding receptions. Each year a summer carnival with rides and games was held on their property. Little league baseball games were  held on another part of the VFW land and at a larger field was located on the east side of town.