Clawson MI, 48107
A city part of Oakland County in Michigan, Clawson has a total population of 11,825 residents in the 2010 census. Clawson’s name has a peculiar origin; it was a misspelling of John Lawson’s name a local in the township. In 1829, the city was originally named as Pumachug and The Corners. Clawson was incorporated as a village in 1921 and a city in 1940.
The government allotted about two million acres of bounty lands in Michigan for the veterans of the War of 1812. However, land surveyors reported that the southeastern part of Michigan was deemed uninhabitable in 1815 thus delaying settlement in the area. In 1818, the government conducted another land surveys and reported back a different notion from the first ones which started land sales in the area including Clawson.
In 1818, Oakland County was established under the Macomb County jurisdiction and was twice the size of the modern day county. But with less than 60 families, it was re-assigned to Pontiac as its seat county in March 28, 1820. The first settlers came to Clawson in the sections of 3 and 4 of Town 1, Range 11 East and sections 33 and 34 of Town 2, Range 11 East.
The Towns 1 and 2 later became Troy Township in 1827. Its borders ran from north of 8 Mile Road to South Boulevard crossing Dequindre to Greenfield and Adams in Troy. The town lines intersect some of the suburbs in the city, residents living in Townline Road have addresses in Troy Township and, residents in the south of Townline lived in Royal Oak Township. The growing community lived in two separate townships until it was incorporated in 1920.
Upon construction of the first roads in town, came the small business and industries which helped it grew into a very peaceful and prosperous city. In 1827 the government first cut the road between the section lines known today as Main Street. Back then, it was more commonly known as Niles Road after Johnson Niles who lived in Troy at Square Lake. His house still stands today and, one of the most famous city attractions visited.
Two of the primary industries in Clawson were sawmills; one owned by James G. Johnson in 1832 and the other owned by Dewitt Williams and Lorenso Chillson in 1849. Johnson built his sawmill along the Little Run Creek while Williams and Chillson constructed theirs near the northeast corner of 14 Mile and Main Street.
By the year 1890s Clawson changed and more prefabricated houses were built, many of these houses still remain in the city today. Some of the prefabricated materials came from Sears, Roebuck and Co. or Montgomery Ward catalogs. These houses still fascinate hundreds of tourists today. Within the last few years of the 20th century, the Downtown Development Authority set and effort to rehabilitate and revitalize the downtown community of the city. Some of the historic buildings in Clawson date back to the 1920s era. For the past century, Clawson continues to change and much of it for the better and goodwill of its residents.
