page_title: Romeo, Michigan
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Romeo, Michigan / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Perspective map not drawn to scale. LC Panoramic maps (2nd ed.), 372 Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. Indexed for points of interest. Vault AACR2: 100; 651/1; 700/1; 710/2
context_page_description: Romeo is a village in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,596 at the 2010 census. The village is situated at the southeast corner of Bruce Township, with a portion extending south into Washington Township. Armada Township is adjacent to the east and Ray Township to the southeast. Romeo is located on the rural-urban fringe of the Detroit metropolitan area, and many of its residents commute to jobs closer to the city.
  Romeo is known for its Peach Festival, which takes place every year during Labor Day weekend. This event dates back to 1931 and includes a car show, floral parade, craft show, and many other downtown events.
  Tillson Street is known for its elaborate Halloween decorations. Thousands trick-or-treat Tillson Street every Halloween to see the homeowners' one of a kind Halloween stages.
  On February 14 of each year, the village of Romeo offers a special dual postmark with the community of Juliette, Georgia. This tradition began in 1994, as a nod to the William Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. The small town was named Romeo because the founders wanted something romantic.
context_section_description: A settlement here was originally occupied by the indigenous Chippewa (Ojibwe), an Algonquian-speaking people who were part of a large language family of tribes extending to the Atlantic Coast. Those tribes around the Great Lakes are thought to have migrated to this area by the 12th century.
  The early European-American settlers in this area referred to the Chippewa settlement as Indian Village. In the 1820s and 1830s more migrant European-American families began to settle in the area, building homes and establishing businesses. They renamed the community as Hoxie's Settlement, named after a man who opened an inn on main street. In 1839, Hoxie's Settlement became incorporated and was renamed as the village of Romeo. Romeo celebrated its 175th anniversary as of March 9, 2013.
  Romeo once served as a trading center for the timber industry, and had many mills processing lumber from the region. Many wealthy timber families resided there. Dozens of stately Victorian mansions survive.  Romeo is distinct in the area for having a fairly robust, traditional downtown, which has never suffered a major fire. Because of this, some stores and restaurants downtown have features such as original tin ceilings from the Civil War. In the early 20th century, Romeo was the site of an early business devoted to the new automobile industry: the Detroit Auto Vehicle Company operated here from 1904 until 1908.
caption: Panoramic map of Romeo with list of landmarks, 1868
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