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 42 local stories.
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- History and cultureA Lenape-Moravian village stood here in 1782David Zeisberger and Christian Lenape families established New Gnadenhutten on the Clinton River in 1782, where they found traces of an even older Native town.
- History and cultureClinton Township started a canal meant to cross MichiganAn 1827 company planned to join the Clinton and Kalamazoo rivers, turning a village in today's Clinton Township into the east end of a route to Lake Michigan.
- History and cultureThe farmhouse inside Sterling Heights' civic campusThe 1866-67 Upton House survived while its 136-acre farm became Sterling Heights' city hall, library, community center, and a high school.
- OutdoorsThe shortcut river built to hold back floodsThe Army Corps built the 2.5-mile Clinton River Spillway in 1950 to send floodwater toward Lake St. Clair before it reached Mount Clemens.
- OutdoorsThe Clinton River starts as a web, not a lineMain, Middle, North, Stony, Paint, and Red Run branches connect Oakland and Macomb communities before the Clinton reaches Lake St. Clair.
- History and cultureEight Mile is more than Detroit's northern edgeBefore it became a cultural dividing line, Eight Mile was Michigan's survey baseline - the line that helped lay out townships, counties, and the mile-road grid.
- History and cultureMacomb Township built its park system after the boom beganResidents approved a parks millage in 1997; within seven years Macomb Township had opened Waldenburg Park, Macomb Corners Park, and a large recreation center.
- History and cultureSterling Heights put its sculpture collection on the mapPermanent sculptures, murals, and a 26-foot steel-and-glass piece fill Sterling Heights' civic center, fire stations, library, and a busy roundabout.
- History and cultureWaldenburg's German roots still stand at 21 MileGerman settlers organized Immanuel Lutheran in 1853, built a church in 1855 and a school in 1866, leaving an old community name on modern Macomb Township roads.
- History and cultureBlossom Heath went from roadhouse to city living roomA 1911 lakefront roadhouse became a Prohibition-era ballroom, then St. Clair Shores bought it in 1946 and turned the grounds into a civic center and park.
- OutdoorsThe Metropark everyone still calls Metro BeachHarrison 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 cultureRomeo's hundred old houses, saved almost by accidentThe 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 cultureA free Chesterfield garage full of pre-war cars and dance organsThe 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 cultureCenter Line: the whole city sits inside WarrenCenter 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 cultureHow Macomb Township went from farms to 90,000 peopleGerman 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 cultureMacomb County's first Carnegie library is now its art centerThe 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 cultureRoseville was named for a postmaster's father, not a flowerRoseville 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 cultureThe eight-sided house a Washington Township farmer built to outdo his neighborsLoren 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.
- OutdoorsThe Ray Township gristmill that ground grain into the 1960sWolcott 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 cultureWhen New Baltimore was a resort town with salt bathsFor 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.
- OutdoorsArmada's county fair, running since the 1870sThe 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 cultureUtica was once called Hog HollowBefore New York transplants gave it a dignified name, the Clinton River settlement that became Utica went by McDougalville, Hog Hollow, and Harlow.
- OutdoorsFraser's five-rink ice palace, now named after a burgerFraser'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.
- OutdoorsThe 530-foot pier into Anchor BayChesterfield 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 cultureRoseville's Macomb Mall, walking indoors since 1964When 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 cultureClinton Township is Michigan's most populous townshipThe township label hides a city-sized suburb: Census estimated 101,374 residents in 2025, and the community takes its name from the Clinton River.
- History and cultureDodge Park: Sterling Heights' riverfront living roomSterling 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 cultureWarren's 'Industrial Versailles': the GM Technical CenterEero Saarinen's GM Technical Center was dedicated in 1956 with President Eisenhower speaking remotely from the White House, and it remains an active GM campus.
- History and cultureWhere Packards proved themselves: Shelby Township's automotive shrineShelby 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 cultureHow a train rescue in Mount Clemens launched Thomas EdisonA teenage Thomas Edison learned telegraphy after rescuing a child at the Mount Clemens train depot.
- History and cultureMount 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 cultureRomeo's Peach Festival returns each Labor Day weekendRomeo's Peach Festival began in 1931. It has paused more than once, but the Labor Day weekend tradition keeps returning to northern Macomb County.
- History and cultureSterling Heights: from missiles to Ram trucksSterling Heights' Ram truck plant began as a missile plant, then became one of Macomb County's major auto plants.
- History and cultureThe 'Industrial Versailles' in WarrenWarren's GM Technical Center is a National Historic Landmark and a landmark of modern corporate-campus design.
- History and cultureWarren's tank plant: the Arsenal of DemocracyWarren'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 cultureWhy 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 cultureSelfridge: one of America's oldest air basesSelfridge Air National Guard Base opened in 1917 and still anchors Macomb County's military aviation history.
- History and cultureThe Packard Proving GroundsThe Packard Proving Grounds in Shelby Township preserves part of a luxury automaker's 1928 test track and grounds.
- History and cultureYates Cider Mill: pressing apples on the Clinton River since the 1800sYates 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.
- OutdoorsStony Creek: 4,400 acres of up-north, twenty minutes from homeStony Creek Metropark gives northern Macomb County 4,400 acres of lake, beaches, and trails — the suburbs' own piece of up north.
- OutdoorsLake St. Clair and the Nautical MileLake St. Clair defines Macomb County's eastern edge, from fishing and muskie waters to the Nautical Mile in St. Clair Shores.
- History and cultureThe general behind the name MacombMacomb 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 taxesDo 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 licensesCan you park on the street overnight? Often notMany metro Detroit suburbs restrict overnight street parking, and snow emergencies can bring stricter temporary bans.
- Cars and drivingWhy 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 licensesCan you run an Airbnb here? Your city or township decidesMichigan 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 taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.