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Canton is named after the city in China. There are several Cantons in the U.S., all named after the Chinese port town.
Most of Canton’s original settlers were from New York, Vermont, or England. They brought with them Greek Revival architecture to build their new homes in Canton.
Canton was known as the “Sweet Corn Capital of the World” from 1925-1970. Wheat was also a very important cash crop, and dairy farming came into its own as well. In fact, there was once a cheese factory on what is now Canton Center Road.
There was once a wooden bridge on Denton Road where several people reported seeing a ghostly “blue lady” and unexplained glowing orbs of light. Legend has it that a woman was murdered on the bridge and her baby, who was with her, was never to be found.
There were several one-room schoolhouses in Canton, including Cherry Hill, Hanford, Hough, Truesdell, and Canton Center. Canton Center School was the last operating one-room schoolhouse in Wayne County until it closed in 1962, and it is now the Canton Historical Museum.
Many roads in Canton are named after farmers who were early settlers (such as Haggerty, Hanford, Lilley, Sheldon, and Palmer).
Potholes were just as much of a problem back in the 1800s. Farmers paid taxes for road repairs, but they could also pay by fixing the roads themselves. Farmers could also charge passersby a fee for helping them get out of potholes!
Ridge Road and Michigan Avenue were former Native American trails. The Potawatomi Trail turned into Ridge Road, and the Old Sauk Trail turned into Michigan Avenue. These Native American trails played an important role in the location of early settlements.
“Haggerty House,” the mansion located at Canton Center Road and Palmer Road, built in 1896 by John S. Haggerty, former Michigan Secretary of State, has been vacant since 2011 when owner John Lasko died. Lasko’s trust forbids anyone from stepping foot on the property.
In 1942, Henry Ford acquired the historic Cherry Hill School (originally built as a log cabin in the 1830s), spending $20,000 on improvements and adding the school to the Greenfield Village school system. After Ford’s death in 1947, the school was annexed to the Plymouth School District, and it now belongs to Canton Township.
