Fowlerville, Michigan: Dating Back to 8500 B.C.?

On the air, I have mentioned numerous (hundreds and hundreds) Michigan towns and cities; in doing so, I’ve had people ask about Fowlerville and Fowler…were they named after the same person?

The answer is no.

Fowler was named after J.N. Fowler, who owned the land on which Fowler was built on. Fowlerville got its name from Ralph Fowler, the first permanent settler in 1836.....and this article is about the “ville”.

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Fowler gave orders to another early settler, Amos Adams, to plat the village in 1849. At this time, the village was called ‘Cedar’ and finally re-named ‘Fowlerville’ in 1853. Although the village was incorporated in 1871, Fowlerville’s history goes way back, much further than the 1800s.

According to the Fowlerville History site, there is evidence of people living on that land as far back as 8500 B.C. The first inclination of a future Fowlerville life was in 1825 when the township was surveyed. It became known as Handy Township after the first settler in 1836, Calvin Handy. Ralph Fowler came from Livingston County, New York.....and now you know where Livingston County got its name.

That's the genesis in a very brief nutshell...

In the 2020s, the tradition of the Fowlerville Fair lives on, as it has ever since 1886. Now scroll down a way to see some photos of Fowlerville as it appeared from 1900 to the 1950s, including old images of the devastating tornado that ripped the town apart in 1909!