Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities (Great Lakes Books) [Paperback]

Walter Romig (Author), Larry B. Massie (Designer)

Book Description

Series: Great Lakes Books | Publication Date: September 1986

Uncovers the origins of more than 5000 of the state's geographical names.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

From Aabec in Antrim County to Zutphen in Ottawa County, from Hell to Hooker, "Michigan Place Names" is a compendium of information on the origins of the state's geographical names. With alphabetically arranged thumb-nail sketches, Walter Romig introduces readers to a host of colorful personalities and episodes which have achieved notoriety, though sometimes shortlived, by devising or lending their names to the state's settlements.

Romig spent more than ten years researching and documenting the entries to which he added an extensive bibliography of sources and an index of the personal names used in the text. For the curious, the librarian, the genealogist, or the historian, his book is an indispensable resource. "Michigan Place Names" is another "Michigan classic" reissued as a Great Lakes Book.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

WAUKAZOOVILLE, Leelanau County: it was founded by Rev. George N. Smith in 1849; James McLaughlin and his son-in-law, William H. Case, built the first house in 1849; they had been sent here as missionaries by the Waukazoo band of Ottawas at Old Wing; the settlement was annexed by Northport in 1852.

Product Details

• Paperback: 673 pages
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press; Great Lakes books ed edition (September 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081431838X
• ISBN-13: 978-0814318386
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genealogists and Local Historians Will Like This Book, October 3, 2000

By 

Holy Olio "holy_olio" (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities (Great Lakes Books) (Paperback)

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Based on the old Michigan "postmaster history", this book is very handy for trivia buffs as well. The index is very reliable, I've only noticed a few minor omissions. I give this five stars because it's a nice and nicely sized reference work. It's about the size of one of those car sized phone books that TDI et al make for the cellular phone user and easy to handle. Fascinating and detailed, it is indispensible in its niche. A good companion would be one of the county by county state atlases which shows the locations of the vanished towns, although some of these are so vanished they won't appear on the map.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CORRECTION NEEDED in THIS BOOK, January 12, 2004

By 

Patricia Rinaldi (Leslie, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities (Great Lakes Books) (Paperback)

The book is excellent but not totally accurate. For example, LESLIE was named by the politician Jerry G. Cornell. The source quoted by Romig mis-typed his name as "J. A. Cornell" and Romig quoted that source with an additional typo-garble changing the name to "A. J. Cornell". This has created a 30-year misrepresentation of our town's history that is so hard to correct. That misspelled name is now on many web sites. If you read this book for fun, it's an interesting semi-true historical story book. It will make Michigan map reading much more interesting, too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Michigan Place Names (Great Lakes Books), April 14, 2008

By 

Jodie K. Jenks "Poor Little Robin" (Eaton Co., MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities (Great Lakes Books) (Paperback)

I agree with Patricia Rinadli's review there are errors in this book. If the book is examined carefully, you will discover that the author requested information for his book from many different places. In Eaton Co. the library helped him. While I am sure that the people who supplied the information for this book thought that they were accurate, I have been using it to help me develop a list of all of the communities that existed in Eaton Co. and have found many inaccuracies for Eaton Co. One was about the real name for the small community of Needmore which was very suitably named... I eventually found a map published by the Eaton County Bicentennial Commission in 1976 which can still be purchased at the old county building in Charlotte, MI which solved the mystery.

Never the less this is a valuable resource for Michigan history buffs, genealogist and stamp collectors who specialize in covers. The book discusses the history of various post offices that were in existence in Michigan. Nothing can take the place of original research, but then not everyone has the time, neither do they have access to all the resources they need and must rely on other sources or people. Relying on the internet for correct information does not always give accurate information. Using your local library and asking for help from the reference librarian can usually give you the most accurate information.