County note shelf
Macomb County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Macomb County. This shelf has 6 practical notes and 32 local stories.
38 notes
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- Outdoors The Metropark everyone still calls Metro Beach Harrison Township's big Lake St. Clair park has been renamed twice, but the 600-foot sandy beach, the marsh trails, and the 50-meter pool keep drawing the same crowds since 1950.
- History and culture Romeo's hundred old houses, saved almost by accident The village of Romeo holds roughly 100 well-preserved historic buildings in nearly every architectural style from the 1830s to about 1910 — a concentration the state calls outstanding.
- History and culture A free Chesterfield garage full of pre-war cars and dance organs The Stahls Automotive Collection in Chesterfield shows dozens of rare early cars alongside automated dance organs and a Mighty Wurlitzer — and charges nothing to walk in.
- History and culture Center Line: the whole city sits inside Warren Center Line is a small city completely surrounded by Warren — the result of incorporating first, in 1925, before Warren Township grew up into a city around it.
- History and culture How Macomb Township went from farms to 90,000 people German farmers settled Macomb Township for its flat, fertile soil in the 1830s; two centuries later it filled with subdivisions to become one of Michigan's fastest-growing places, topping 90,000 residents.
- History and culture Macomb County's first Carnegie library is now its art center The 1904 Carnegie library in downtown Mount Clemens was the first in Macomb County; saved from the wrecking ball in 1969, it became the Anton Art Center.
- History and culture Roseville was named for a postmaster's father, not a flower Roseville takes its name from William Rose, who in 1840 named the local post office after his father Denison Rose, a War of 1812 veteran — and the township was once called Erin.
- History and culture The eight-sided house a Washington Township farmer built to outdo his neighbors Loren Andrus put up a brick eight-sided house in Washington Township in 1860, with a 55-step spiral staircase climbing all the way to the cupola — one of the finest octagon houses left in Michigan.
- Outdoors The Ray Township gristmill that ground grain into the 1960s Wolcott Mill in Ray Township ground local grain from the 1840s until 1967; the Huron-Clinton Metroparks now keep the old mill and its pond as a working slice of farm history.
- History and culture When New Baltimore was a resort town with salt baths For two decades after the Civil War, New Baltimore was the busiest town in Macomb County — an opera house, a brewery, hotels, and mineral salt baths drawing visitors to Anchor Bay.
- Outdoors Armada's county fair, running since the 1870s The Armada Fair has filled this small northern Macomb County village every August since the 1870s — its 154th edition runs in 2026, making it one of Michigan's longest-running fairs.
- History and culture Utica was once called Hog Hollow Before New York transplants gave it a dignified name, the Clinton River settlement that became Utica went by McDougalville, Hog Hollow, and Harlow.
- Outdoors Fraser's five-rink ice palace, now named after a burger Fraser's Big Boy Arena packs five ice surfaces under one roof — named for the Great Lakes once, a soda brand later, and finally a Michigan burger chain.
- Outdoors The 530-foot pier into Anchor Bay Chesterfield Township's Brandenburg Park runs a 530-foot fishing pier out into the shallow waters of Anchor Bay, the northern arm of Lake St. Clair.
- History and culture Roseville's Macomb Mall, walking indoors since 1964 When Macomb Mall opened in Roseville in 1964, it was one of the Detroit area's early enclosed malls — heated, air-conditioned, anchored by Sears, Crowley's, and Kresge.
- History and culture Dodge Park: Sterling Heights' riverfront living room Sterling Heights centers its civic life on Dodge Park along the Clinton River — home of the Sterlingfest art and music fair every July since 1983.
- History and culture Michigan's biggest township (and the river that named it) Clinton Township is the most populous township in Michigan — 100,000-plus residents along a river renamed in 1824 for Erie Canal builder DeWitt Clinton.
- History and culture Warren's 'Industrial Versailles': the GM Technical Center Eero Saarinen's GM Technical Center in Warren — opened by President Eisenhower in 1956 and a National Historic Landmark since 2014 — is where GM still designs its future.
- History and culture Where Packards proved themselves: Shelby Township's automotive shrine Shelby Township preserves the Packard Proving Grounds — Albert Kahn's 1928 test-track buildings, saved by volunteers and alive with car shows and events.
- History and culture How a train rescue in Mount Clemens launched Thomas Edison A teenage Thomas Edison learned telegraphy after rescuing a child at the Mount Clemens train depot.
- History and culture Mount Clemens: the town that was 'Bath City' Mount Clemens was once a nationally famous mineral-bath resort town, and the Crocker House Museum still tells that story.
- History and culture Romeo's Peach Festival, since 1931 Romeo's Peach Festival has celebrated northern Macomb County peach country every Labor Day weekend since 1931.
- History and culture Sterling Heights: from missiles to Ram trucks Sterling Heights' Ram truck plant began as a missile plant, then became one of Macomb County's major auto plants.
- History and culture The 'Industrial Versailles' in Warren Warren's GM Technical Center is a National Historic Landmark and a landmark of modern corporate-campus design.
- History and culture Warren's tank plant: the Arsenal of Democracy Warren's Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant was the first U.S. factory built to mass-produce tanks and remains tied to Army vehicle work.
- History and culture Why Eastpointe used to be called 'East Detroit' Eastpointe was once called East Detroit, and its 1992 name change carried both identity and border-city context.
- History and culture Selfridge: one of America's oldest air bases Selfridge Air National Guard Base opened in 1917 and still anchors Macomb County's military aviation history.
- History and culture The Packard Proving Grounds The Packard Proving Grounds in Shelby Township preserves part of a luxury automaker's 1928 test track and grounds.
- History and culture Yates Cider Mill: pressing apples on the Clinton River since the 1800s Yates Cider Mill in Rochester Hills has run since 1863 — cider since 1876, pressed with an 1894 water turbine — where the Clinton River Trail meets fall tradition.
- Outdoors Stony Creek: 4,400 acres of up-north, twenty minutes from home Stony Creek Metropark gives northern Macomb County 4,400 acres of lake, beaches, and trails — the suburbs' own piece of up north.
- Outdoors Lake St. Clair and the Nautical Mile Lake St. Clair defines Macomb County's eastern edge, from fishing and muskie waters to the Nautical Mile in St. Clair Shores.
- History and culture The general behind the name Macomb Macomb County and Macomb Township are named for Alexander Macomb, the Detroit-born general who won the Battle of Plattsburgh and led the entire U.S. Army.
- Money and taxes Do any Macomb County cities have a local income tax? Macomb County has no city income tax in any of its cities or townships, so property tax is the main local tax to watch.
- Rules and licenses Can you park on the street overnight? Often not Many metro Detroit suburbs restrict overnight street parking, and snow emergencies can bring stricter temporary bans.
- Cars and driving Why is car insurance so expensive around here? Michigan auto insurance is still expensive, and metro Detroit addresses can move rates by hundreds of dollars a month.
- Rules and licenses Can you run an Airbnb here? Your city or township decides Michigan leaves short-term rental rules to each city or township, so Airbnb and Vrbo rules can change from one community to the next.
- Money and taxes Buying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxes Michigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxes In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.