Royal Oak

Here’s a fun one: Royal Oak is named after a tree. In 1819, Territorial Governor Lewis Cass and his survey crew stopped for lunch under a big oak near what’s now Main and Crooks, and Cass — clearly the kind of guy who livens up a lunch break with a history lecture — told the story of King Charles II of England hiding in an oak to escape his enemies. Looking up at the branches over his sandwich, Cass reportedly declared, “This truly is a Royal Oak.” The name stuck.

It grew from there: a township in 1819, a village in 1891, and finally a city in 1921. Woodward Avenue — the old Saginaw Trail, once a footpath worn by the Sauk — became the highway that connected Royal Oak to Detroit and fueled its growth. For a while it was a sleepy collection of shops; by the late ’90s, downtown Royal Oak had reinvented itself into one of the liveliest nightlife-and-dining districts in the suburbs. Today it’s got one of the biggest downtowns of any Detroit suburb, lofts and apartments stacked above the storefronts, and a steady hum of people out doing things. Not bad for a place named after a guy’s lunchtime story.

Royal Oak punches above its weight for famous names. Glenn Frey — founding member of the Eagles — grew up here and went to Dondero High. SNL legend Gilda Radner had deep Detroit-area roots, and her legacy lives on at Gilda’s Club here.

The town also claims author Judith Guest (Ordinary People), ’60s activist Tom Hayden (who co-wrote the Port Huron Statement), MLB pitcher Jason Grilli, and Andrew Dost of the band fun. Comedy-wise, Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle helped launch Tim Allen and Dave Coulier. Not a bad alumni roster for a city named after a tree.