Paw Paw's name runs from fruit to river to village
The village traces its name to the Paw Paw River, which local history says Indigenous people named for the native pawpaw fruit.
Say the name twice and it can sound made up. But a pawpaw is a real native fruit: green on the outside, soft and custardy inside, with a flavor Michigan State University’s herbarium compares to mango and banana. USDA calls it the largest edible fruit native to America.
The local name story works in three steps. The Village of Paw Paw says the village was named for the nearby river, and that Indigenous people had named the river for the fruit. The village’s short account does not identify a particular nation, so it is better not to guess beyond that. Its adopted master plan adds that pawpaw trees once grew along the Paw Paw River.
The dates are worth keeping straight. The master plan says Paw Paw was settled in 1828. Peter Gremps later platted the community and started its first store, mill, and public house. The county seat moved here from Lawrence in 1840, and the village says it was established in 1859. Paw Paw remains the Van Buren County seat today.
The fruit has not disappeared from Michigan. MSU says pawpaws still grow in floodplains and shady bottomlands and generally ripen from mid-August through September. The village’s master plan says the trees are less common around Paw Paw now because forests were cleared, but the name still carries the old landscape with it: fruit, river, and village, one after another.
Sources
Last reviewed against the listed sources: July 16, 2026.