Home town Rochester:
Subtitle: A history of Avon Township, Rochester and Rochester Hills, Michigan
By: by Deborah J. Larsen
Publisher: Rochester-Avon Historical Society
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Rochester, Michigan
Language: eng
Format: ill. (part col.); maps; ports.
Number of pages: 104
ISBN-13: 9780967759920
Subjects: Rochester (Mich.) - History.; Avon Township (Mich.) - History; Rochester Hills (Mich.) - History.
First sentence: Michigan was a frontier territory and the region that would one day become Oakland County was a howling wilderness when the sons of James Graham followed the Huron River of Lake St. Clair (now known as the Clinton River) inland from Mount Clemens in the autumn of 1816.
Description: When James Graham and his family established the first non-native settlement in the future Oakland County, Michigan in the spring of 1817, they were trusting that the government surveyors who had written the region off as a wasteland were wrong. After they found rich soil and waterways that could drive sawmills and grist mills, they were not alone for long.  Within a generation, a healthy community was established and thriving.  Natural resources supported the population of Rochester and Avon until the twentieth century development of the automobile industry redefined the area's economy, its landscape, and its demographics.
Table of contents: class: section
title: Acknowledgements; class: section
title: Foreword; class: section
title: Chapter One: The Pioneers; class: section
title: Chapter Two: Regiments and Railroads; class: section
title: Chapter Three: A New Century; class: section
title: Chapter Four: Depression and World War; class: section
title: Chapter Five: The Changing Landscape; class: section
title: Chapter Six: Tale of Two Cities; class: section
title: Selected Sources; class: section
title: Chronology; class: section
title: Index