Lamont's road-grader naming story
Local history says Steele's Landing became Lamont after Lamont Chubb offered the community a road grader in exchange for using his name.
Harry Steele settled on the north bank of the Grand River in 1833, and the boat landing became known as Steele’s Landing. The community was also called Middleburgh before it became Lamont.
The local story says Lamont Chubb of Grand Rapids offered a road grader if the community would take his name. The village was platted as Lamont on April 3, 1856, and the post office also took the new name that year.
The exchange is documented as local tradition rather than a formal naming contract. One older account even describes the gift as a plow instead of a road grader, so the exact tool is not beyond dispute.
What remains consistent is the core story: a useful piece of road or farm equipment and Chubb’s request helped replace the Steele’s Landing name with Lamont.
Sources
Last reviewed against the listed sources: July 12, 2026.