How did Metro-Detroit suburbs get their names?

[Detroitnerd]

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).

A fine point, but one that should be made: The embankment was made to the east but never used.

Pictures of the old trestle are fascinating indeed.

[Scottathew]

Folks,

I found another great resource for information about the early days Oakland County. It's a massive 623 page book, "Oakland County Book of History".

It was published in 1970 and contains a very thorough history of many suburbs. The funny thing is that includes details right up to 1970, so you'll find it saying things like "Royal Oak's current population is 100,000 people", when really it's more like 60,000 now.

Every few pages there are what I thought were "historical advertisements". However, I realized that the advertisements supported the books publishing, and were current ads when the book was published in 1970. Some of the advertisements are as interesting as the history articles.

I have a copy of the book from the Rochester Hills Public Library and plan on returning it later this month.

It's also available used on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

[Novine]

Novi predated the railroad and toll road and it's the 8th township east of the Meridian so any of those stories about its naming are off by decades or are just factually wrong. About those other cities:
- There was no State Boundary Commission in 1963 when Westland incorporated.
- Farmington Hills was incorporated from Farmington Township and that included the 2 villages incorporated within the Township. Quakertown and Wood Creek Farms were large subdivisions that incorporated as villages. Neither was very large and the bulk of the current city was the unincorporated portion of the Township at that time. The Township incorporated to block efforts by the City of Farmington to annex portions of the township that developed as the industrial corridor along I-275.

[Scottathew]

Farmington Hills was incorporated from Farmington Township and that included the 2 villages incorporated within the Township. Quakertown and Wood Creek Farms were large subdivisions that incorporated as villages. Neither was very large and the bulk of the current city was the unincorporated portion of the Township at that time. The Township incorporated to block efforts by the City of Farmington to annex portions of the township that developed as the industrial corridor along I-275.

The 1970 publication "Oakland County Book of History" included [[what was then) a current map that included "Quakertown".

[Hermod]

I think you may be mistaking Southland Center, the indoor mall, built in 1970 in Taylor at Eureka & Racho, and the Southgate Shopping Center, the strip mall, built in 1958 at Eureka & Trenton, and for which the city of Southgate [[formerly Ecorse Twp.) is named.

The old railroad guides spell the station name as "ecorses".

[EastsideAl]

The old railroad guides spell the station name as "ecorses".

The original French name of the Ecorse River was "Rivière aux Écorces". "Ecorce" means "bark" in French. The spelling appears to have changed to "Ecorse" sometime in the late 1800s.

[Oldertimer]

for Mich city names get hold of a book called "Michigan Place Names" by Walter Romig, L.H.D. He is also the publisher. Book may or may not be out-of-print. Publisher is or was located at 979 Lakepointe Rd, Grosse Pointe MI 48230.

[Ray1936]

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

Yeah, but it's St. James in Spanish. Whale of a difference.

[Hermod]

Yeah, but it's St. James in Spanish. Whale of a difference.

I thought that Santiago was St James

[Danny]

Lincoln Park was named after our 16th President Abraham Lincoln.

At the time the area from Outer Drive to Goddard to Brest St. from Ford Line St. to the Ecorse River was part of Ecorse TWP. In 1917 Detroit had annexed 2 miles of the township from Rouge River to Outer Drive and from 19th street line to Dumfries Family Farmland. While other areas on Ecorse TWP. was rushing to the State Boundry commission to incorporate. The people in central part of Ecorse TWP. did the same. By 1921 Lincoln Park became a village. To prevent Detroit from annexing the village. Lincoln Park became a city in 1925.

[Bigb23]

Thanks 48307-


I called today and am next in line for the Oakland County book from the Library. Take good care of it for me.

Ex Campbells Corner, now back in 48307

[Steve Frey]

It was pronounced Mon-GWAH-gun. The Monguagon Middle School was opened in 1971, but was later changed to Boyd Arthurs Middle School. Its a shame, because there is NOTHING named Monguagon anymore.

[Honky Tonk]

It was pronounced Mon-GWAH-gun. The Monguagon Middle School was opened in 1971, but was later changed to Boyd Arthurs Middle School. Its a shame, because there is NOTHING named Monguagon anymore.

I'm naming my first kid Monguagon, boy or girl.

[Jimaz]

Rochester, Utica, and Troy were named after the early settlers hometowns in New York.

Only recently did I learn that Utica, New York, was likely named after the ancient ruined Mediterranean port city of Utica, Tunisia, near the northernmost tip of Africa and founded sometime around 700 to 1100 B.C.

"Utica" meant "old town" versus nearby "Carthage" which meant "new town."

Satellite view

<Sigh> All I want for Christmas is a time machine.

[Don K]

Only recently did I learn that Utica, New York, was likely named after the ancient ruined Mediterranean port city of Utica, Tunisia, near the northernmost tip of Africa and founded sometime around 700 to 1100 B.C.

"Utica" meant "old town" versus nearby "Carthage" which meant "new town."

Satellite view

<Sigh> All I want for Christmas is a time machine.

Yeah, there are a ton of towns in upstate New York named after ancient cities [[Rome, Utica, Palmyra, Troy), many of which names made it to Michigan with the earliest settlers. Another source of SE Michigan town names was New England [[Plymouth, Salem, Chelsea, Milford, New Boston, arguably Canton, since there is a Canton, MA).

[Danny]

The City of Novi was named after 3 possible origins.

1. Novi is a Latin word for news.

2. Novi is a part of the school township distric called [[No.VI) Number six.

3. Novi was named after Gov. George Palmer's wife Vivian Palmer as it shorten keep the relationship talk easy when asking questions, comments and suggestions. " No, Vi."

[Danny]

Canton Township got its name from a "Canton" a city in Southern China. as its part of Cantonese Language culture.

[Danny]

Van Buren Township is named after President Martin Van Buren.

[Danny]

Ecorse was named a river that split in the two. It's was called "Rivier Aux Echorches" meaning The River of the Banks.

[Steve]

Does anyone know how Oak Park, Berkley, and Huntington Woods got their names?

[SammyS]

Does anyone know how Oak Park, Berkley, and Huntington Woods got their names?

"Upon returning from a trip of Huntingdon, England, Mr. I.C. Freud brought the idea of patterning a meandering street layout on the ridge area of Huntington Woods after this quaint town of Huntingdon, England, our city’s namesake."

http://www.ci.huntington-woods.mi.us...ty_history.php

[EastsideAl]

Here is a document with some information about the naming of Berkley.http://www.berkleymich.org/documents/berkleyname.pdf
But it really creates more questions than it answers.

[Steve]

Thank you SammyS and EastsideAl.

[EastsideAl]

Reading a little further, it seems that area farmer Elmer Cromie just really liked the sound of the word Berkley for some reason. He gave that name to the road that ran across his farm [[off of 12 Mile, one block east of Coolidge) to a new school, which was also named Berkley. So, when it came time to name the new town, Berkley [[or Berkeley, as it may have originally been spelled) was the name that it seemed most natural to choose.

[Henry Whalley]

Ferndale was named for Fern and Dale, an elderly couple who owned the corner party store once located at 9 Mile and Woodward.

Yeah, and the Detroit River was named after some guy named Diego Rivera — named by an urban planner who got so fried with Fern and Dale that he misspelled Rivera’s name. He also misspelled ‘Frida Festival’ — so the story goes.