The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Monroe (Michigan)

MONROE, Mich., city, county-seat of Monroe County on the Raisin River, and on the Michigan Southern, the Père Marquette, the Michigan Central and the Lake Shore railroads, about 40 miles southwest of Detroit and 85 miles southeast of Lansing, the State capital. Was settled in 1784 by people from Canada, and was first called Frenchtown. In 1815 the name was changed to Monroe in honor of James Monroe (q.v.). It was chartered as a city in 1836. Here took place 22-23 Jan. 1813 the “Battle of Raisin River.” (See Frenchtown, Battle of). The city is in a fertile agricultural region and a trade centre for a large section of the southeastern part of the State. Its principal manufactures are flour, lumber, paper, paint, brick, agricultural implements, stoves, furnace products, furniture and canned goods. The nurseries nearby and the fisheries give employment to a number of people. The chief buildings are the courthouse, opera-house, armory and two orphan asylums, a home for the aged, Saint Mary's Academy, a public library and a convent. It has the mother house of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a teaching order of sisters who have schools in various parts of the country, and whose pupils number about 10,000. In connection with the convent and academy are a large library and a fine museum. Pop. 6,893.