“LeRoy Street went to Robert LeRoy, while Elizabeth, Adelaide, and Lavinia Streets were named for the men’s wives.”
Did you ever wonder how a town or a street gets its name? Fenton, Michigan has a particularly entertaining origin story. According to local history, the settlement reportedly got its name in 1837 through a card game between land speculators (someone who buys land or property hoping its value will increase so they can sell it later for a profit) William Fenton and Robert LeRoy. Fenton won the naming rights and named the town after himself. Apparently, even in the early days of real estate development, location wasn’t the only thing worth winning!
And they didn’t stop after naming the town. According to Fenton’s official history, the men kept playing, with the cards determining who got to name additional streets. LeRoy Street went to Robert LeRoy, while Elizabeth, Adelaide, and Lavinia Streets were named for the men’s wives. The story is still such a part of Fenton’s identity that the city has a bronze sculpture depicting the famous 1837 card game. You can read more about it here!
Fenton and LeRoy were fascinating characters! Both were early developers who bought land, invested in the settlement, and helped shape what became Fenton. William Fenton later went into politics, serving in the Michigan Senate and as lieutenant governor of the state, while Robert LeRoy stayed closely tied to the town itself, opening its first store and serving as its first postmaster. It’s interesting how every street we drive upon or every city we live in is a piece of continuing history.
All this took place during a land boom that helped shape Michigan’s communities, leaving behind records of early purchases, property divisions, and ownership transfers. Those records are part of what makes title research so fascinating. At Real Title Services, we help uncover the stories behind properties by tracing ownership and retrieving records nationwide. We may not be able to help you win a town in a card game, but we can help make sure the title history is a winning hand!
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