How did Metro-Detroit suburbs get their names?

[Jimaz]

Neat little book on the subject: "If This Is Hastings, Then Where Is Hog's Hollow? A discovery of the lost villages in Oakland and Macomb counties" by Deborah J. Remer. Check your local library's Michigan history section, or interloan it.

The slaughterhouse may be gone but the name lives on with Hogs Hollow Smokehouse.

[Gingellgirl]

Ponder this: Andersonville, Auburn Heights, Austin Corners, Big Beaver, Brandon Gardens, Bunny Run, Campbells Corner, Charing Cross, Clarenceville, Clintonville,Clyde, Drayton Plains, East Highland, Farmington Acres, Five Points, Four Towns, Glengary, Groveland Corners, Hickory Ridge, Jossman Acres, Lake Orion Heights, Newark, North Farmington, Oak Grove, Oakley Park, Oakwood, Oxbow, Perry Lake Heights, Quakertown, Rose Corners, Rudds Mill, Seven Harbors,Stony Creek, Thomas, Troy Corners, Walters, West Highland, Westacres, Wood Creek Farms, Yates . . . those Oakland County places are gone . . . absorbed into the surrounding cities and townships. BUT GINGELLVILLE IS STILL HERE!

[factoryrat]

Sure was, still there really. Nine Mile and Lahser. Namesake grocery store, golf course and bowling alley are still there.

An interesting story about the Plum Hollow area.
From http://history.sfldlib.org/history/L...ibrary/37..pdf

At the time Native Americans still lived in and
traveled through Oakland County. [[Southfield did
not appear to have had any significant Native
American settlements, however.) The history of one
Southfield family reveals much about relations with
the natives. Morris Jencks [[also spelled Jenks) came
to Michigan in 1821 from Berkshire, New York. He
married Almira Botsford in 1829 and secured land,
two years later, in the present day Nine Mile and
Berg Road area. He built a log house in a clearing
he made on the bank of Plum Bottom Creek. Plum
Bottom, now known as Plum Hollow, was so named
due to the wild plum trees which grew along its
banks.
As the story goes, one morning Mr. Jencks was
out cutting wood when he was approached by an
Indian, his squaw and two children. They asked for
food. Mr. Jencks invited them into his house and
served them all the bread and milk they could eat
before they continued their journey to Detroit. After
that, the Indian always stopped at the Jencks' cabin
when passing through, often bringing with him
baskets of berries.
Some years later, Mr. Jencks' son was bitten on
the leg by a poisonous snake. The wound had
caused the leg to swell and turn black. As luck
would have it, the Indian Mr. Jencks had befriended
stopped at the cabin and noticed the condition of the
Jencks boy. He left the cabin, only to return shortly
with a handful of herbs. The Indian proceeded to
make a poultice for the snake bite and instructed Mr.
Jencks in how to prepare the same. The boy
recovered in the days that followed. The Jencks
family had been more than repaid for the bread and
milk.

[Blueidone]

This kind of thread is why I love this forum!!

If I recall correctly, Fraser was named for the word "frazier" which means strawberry in French, I believe. I think it was a major crop in the area at the time of incorporation.

[MrJones]

Altogether now, Novi got it's name from.........

I've heard that the early maps were divided up into sections, the Novi area being number 6.
Or Roman numeral VI - No VI

[Al Publican]

"canton" is also the Swiss term for a political district. Switzerland is comprised of "cantons," if I recall right. Ever heard of Pekin, Illinois? Their high school once had the nickname of "Chinks" but dropped it years ago.

[Honky Tonk]

I've heard that the early maps were divided up into sections, the Novi area being number 6.
Or Roman numeral VI - No VI

I've always heard the "6th stop between Detroit and Lansing" story. But I found this document @ the City of Novi site. As someone pointed out earlier, "If you can believe what you read on the internet".

http://www.cityofnovi.org/community/...fNovisName.pdf

[Scottathew]

Neat little book on the subject: "If This Is Hastings, Then Where Is Hog's Hollow? A discovery of the lost villages in Oakland and Macomb counties" by Deborah J. Remer. Check your local library's Michigan history section, or interloan it.

I've got a copy in my hands right now, I just finished reading it. A very fascinating history lesson. It explains a lot of rouge cemetery locations as well as lost villages where even old house foundations can be found.

There are a lot of places, buildings, and schools named for the lost villages.

Close to my house the area of Rochester Road and Auburn Road [[21 Mile) used to be called "Stone Shop". At the intersection there's a business called "The Stone Shop", I wonder if it's a coincidence or perhaps the business owners we're giving a nod to history.

In the north end of Rochester Hills there's a lot of good history in Stony Creek which is at Tienken\Runyon\Washington. I spent a good chunk of the morning going through Zillow to find some of the houses that were built back in the 1800's.

[Hermod]

Rapid Railway stops Detroit-Port Huron

Detroit [[Rapid Terminal), Huston Ave, Grotto, Girard, Fisher Road, Hund, Warren [[town line), Halfway, Brinniman, Kern, Frazho, Brohl Street, Roseville, Champagne Road, Common, Cushey, Masonic Boulevard, Erin [[town line), Quinn, Wolf Road, Nunnelly, Ingleside, Clinton River, Mount Clemens, Canfield, Gould, Hall Road, Shoemaker Road, Chesterfield, Fairchild, Orr, Holtz, Lusk, Stewart Road, Burgess, Baycourt, New Baltimore, Heineman, Bower, Anchorville, Bayview, Fair Haven, Rose, Mills, Perch Point, Crockerville, Dyke, Pearl Beach, Point Tremble, Randolph, Nook, Point Duchene, Algonac, North Algonac, Oak Grove, Harrow, Robert's Landing, Evansmere, Cherry Beach, Marine City, Woodworth Avenue, Youngs Grove, River Road, Recor Point, Rankin, Remer Road, Hawthorne, Jerome, Duchene Road, St. Clair, Somerville, Yankee Street, Burley, Idlewild, Westcott, Wills, Carlton, Elmwood, Marysville, Morton, Bunce, Ravenswood, South park, Port Huron

[MrJones]

Hermod, do you have a year range for this?

Rapid Railway stops Detroit-Port Huron

Detroit [[Rapid Terminal), Huston Ave, Grotto, Girard, Fisher Road, Hund, Warren [[town line), Halfway, Brinniman, Kern, Frazho, Brohl Street, Roseville, Champagne Road, Common, Cushey, Masonic Boulevard, Erin [[town line), Quinn, Wolf Road, Nunnelly, Ingleside, Clinton River, Mount Clemens, Canfield, Gould, Hall Road, Shoemaker Road, Chesterfield, Fairchild, Orr, Holtz, Lusk, Stewart Road, Burgess, Baycourt, New Baltimore, Heineman, Bower, Anchorville, Bayview, Fair Haven, Rose, Mills, Perch Point, Crockerville, Dyke, Pearl Beach, Point Tremble, Randolph, Nook, Point Duchene, Algonac, North Algonac, Oak Grove, Harrow, Robert's Landing, Evansmere, Cherry Beach, Marine City, Woodworth Avenue, Youngs Grove, River Road, Recor Point, Rankin, Remer Road, Hawthorne, Jerome, Duchene Road, St. Clair, Somerville, Yankee Street, Burley, Idlewild, Westcott, Wills, Carlton, Elmwood, Marysville, Morton, Bunce, Ravenswood, South park, Port Huron

[Hermod]

Hermod, do you have a year range for this?

1900-1929.

[Jimaz]

...Close to my house the area of Rochester Road and Auburn Road [[21 Mile) used to be called "Stone Shop". At the intersection there's a business called "The Stone Shop", I wonder if it's a coincidence or perhaps the business owners we're giving a nod to history....

That's interesting. Could be either or both. From the looks of Google Street View they sell stonework there.

Stop in and ask them?

Edit: Their facebook page says "The Stone Shop Inc. was established in 1865." Maybe the area was named after the business.

[Hermod]

Close to my house the area of Rochester Road and Auburn Road [[21 Mile) used to be called "Stone Shop". At the intersection there's a business called "The Stone Shop", I wonder if it's a coincidence or perhaps the business owners we're giving a nod to history.

Stone Shop was a stop on the DUR interurban line from Royal Oak to Flint. It was near the Rochester Rd and Auburn Rd intersection [[Auburn was M-59 "back in the day").

The Flint Line left the Detroit-Pontiac Line at the Royal Oak Station [[Washington and 4th) went west on 4th to Main, then north on Main and Livernois.

Stops were at the Royal Oak city limits, Cemetery Corners [[where Main forks into Crooks, Livernois, and Rochester Rd), Starr's [[13 Mile), Clawson [[14 Mile), Council Corners [[block south of 15 Mile), Big Beaver, Wattles, Harris [[Long Lake), Troy [[Square lake), and Stiles [[South Blvd).

The line then turned east on South Blvd to Rochester Road [[the stop at the South Blvd and Rochester Road was named "West Utica").

North on Rochester Road, the line went West Utica, Stone Shop, Hamlin, Snook's [[around Avon Road) and Rochester [[powerplant and car barns). The line left Rochester to the north to a junction called variously Tienken Junction, Orion Junction, and DA&N Junction. The Romeo-Almont-Imlay City line went east on Tienken Road while the Flint line went north-west on Orion Road.

Out Orion Road, the stops were Tienken Junction, Bromley's, Goodison, School House, Five Points, Rudd's Mills, Lake Orion, Benjamin's, Bailey's, Oxford, Holstein's, Valentine's, Oakwood, Cowden, Wadel's, Overhead Bridge, Lease's, Kent's, Ortonville, Spencer's, Paddison's, Sunnyside, Rhode's, Gooderich, Atlas, Irish Road, Updyke's, Myer's, Howe's, Morris, Crago, Howard's, Flint.

[downtownguy]

I've always heard the "6th stop between Detroit and Lansing" story. But I found this document @ the City of Novi site. As someone pointed out earlier, "If you can believe what you read on the internet".

http://www.cityofnovi.org/community/...fNovisName.pdf

That's the only story about the name of Novi I had heard up until now. BTW, your link didn't work for me, but you can still get to it by following the .pdf link on this page in the upper right titled, "History of Novi's Name."

http://www.cityofnovi.org/Community/History.aspx

[Hermod]

DUR crossing the Clinton River near south hill of Rochester

Attachment 23408

[Whaler]

The original name of Bloomfield Hills was Bagley's Corners.....Whaler

[MrJones]

Altogether now, Novi got it's name from.........

I've heard that the early maps were divided up into sections, the Novi area being number 6.
Or Roman numeral VI - No VI

I guess I walked right into that one. Didn't realize it was such a morass. I just heard a story from someone I believed.

[Scottathew]

DUR crossing the Clinton River near south hill of Rochester

Attachment 23408

That's an awesome picture.

[Hermod]

Reminds me of the sawmill town on the old Wisc & Mich Railroad [[the Whiskey-Mich) up in da yoopee. They wanted to name the town "Fisher" after one of the railroad execs, but the postal orifice already was using the name for another P.O. in Michigan, so they changed the name to "Koss".

[Honky Tonk]

The original name of Bloomfield Hills was Bagley's Corners.....Whaler

Interesting. Same Bagley as in the street? [[I wonder)

[Honky Tonk]

I guess I walked right into that one. Didn't realize it was such a morass. I just heard a story from someone I believed.

You're fine. It's still in the discussion stage. The poo-flinging hasn't even started.

[Whaler]

This is what I found... http://www.deporrelaw.com/pdf/BagleyHistory.pdf

[Hermod]

That's an awesome picture.

48307:
If you go to the Clinton River Bridge on Rochester Road at the bottom of south hill, you can still see the old interurban embankment to the east [[it has trees growing out of it now). The Royal Oak to Rochester interurban grade on Livernois and Rochester Road could still be seen in the fifties before they widened the roads and built the strip centers. On Orion Road, you can still see the interurban grade here and there [[east side of the road).

[Honky Tonk]

That's the only story about the name of Novi I had heard up until now. BTW, your link didn't work for me, but you can still get to it by following the .pdf link on this page in the upper left titled, "History of Novi's Name."

http://www.cityofnovi.org/Community/History.aspx

Thanx for the link. My original link still shows up in Google search but it no longer seems to work.

V

[RaumVogel]

Not Michigan but San Diego is German for Whale's vagina

I can refute that!

http://www.examiner.com/article/what-do-the-words-san-diego-mean-don-t-believe-everything-the-anchorman-says


BTW...great thread people!