Frequently Asked Questions and Facts About Mount Clemens

A. Mount Clemens is named for Christian Clemens, an early settler and later judge who platted the original town in 1818. The origin of the word "mount" in front of Clemens' name is explained in two stories, both of them apocryphal. One old story has a friendly band of Indians sending Christian Clemens out of their territory with the words "mount, Clemens," meaning that he should mount his horse and ride out of their presence. A more likely explanation, but one that is still of imprecise origin, claims that Mount Clemens was named just as Mount Vernon, the George Washington estate in Virginia, was named. The home or estate of a prominent family, in keeping with a custom dating from medieval times, was named with the prefix "mount." Hence, the home or estate of Christian Clemens would become Mount Clemens.

1850	1,302	1930	13,497
1860	not avail.	1940	14,389
1870	1,768	1950	17,027
1880	3,057	1960	21,016
1890	4,748	1970	20,476
1900	6,576	1980	18,806
1910	7,707	1990	18,405
1920	9,488	2000	17,312

A. According to the historical marker at the railroad station: While working as a railway newsboy on the Detroit-Port Huron line, young Edison often stopped in Mount Clemens. He made friends with station agent J.U. Mackenzie and in 1862 saved Mackenzie's young son from death by a train. In gratitude, Mr. Mackenzie taught Edison railroad telegraphy. From his training, Edison became a qualified railroad telegrapher and worked during the 1860s at this occupation.

A. Mount Clemens has 54.57 miles of streets; also, 9.12 miles of alleys and 100 miles of sidewalks.

A. Mount Clemens has a commission-manager government, under a charter reform that was passed in 1954. There are six city commissioners and a mayor, who serves as the seventh commissioner with a vote but not a veto. The commission appoints a city manager, who serves as the full-time administrator of city affairs. Robert D. Heitsch was the first city manager of Mount Clemens, appointed in October, 1954.

Q. What do the stone faces on the Macomb County Building in downtown Mount Clemens represent?

A. When the County Building was planned in the late 1920s, a military motif was chosen for the building decorations, in honor of the presence of Selfridge Air Base in the community. In keeping with this plan, the figures of a soldier, sailor, marine and air man were chosen. Later, two additional figures were added to the design: a Revolutionary War soldier and an American Indian. To read more about the history of the Macomb County Building, visit our local history page.

Q. I have heard that downtown Mount Clemens had an underground network of tunnels that was used by Twenties-era gangsters and rumrunners. Is this true?

A. Not really. The facts about the tunnels under Mount Clemens have been romanticized and exaggerated a bit over time. An inspection of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Mount Clemens in August, 1921, indicates three separate tunnels in the downtown area. These were service tunnels built by the bath houses to allow access from the main buildings to the wells and pump houses. One tunnel crossed S. Front St. (now known as Northbound Gratiot) just south of Cass Avenue, and connected the Medea Bath House to its mineral water tanks and pump houses. Another connected the main building of St. Joseph's Sanitarium (now St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital-East) with the well house and mineral water tanks located elsewhere on the Sanitarium's property. The third tunnel belonged to the Colonial Hotel, and ran from the west side of the main bath house across Greiner to the mineral well and coal houses. In addition to these three, evidence was found in 1972 that a tunnel or cellar existed south of Cass near the Clinton River for cold storage of beer produced by the Mount Clemens Brewing Company. Although it is entirely possible that these tunnels may have been visited by a few colorful characters of the Roaring Twenties, the tunnels did not really constitute an underground network for criminal activity, but were merely service passageways for local businesses.

In 1997, a new tunnel was constructed under Cass Avenue between Main St. and Northbound Gratiot to connect the new Macomb County Administration Building to the old Macomb County Building and courthouse.