The highly decorated war veteran General Alexander Macomb remains the namesake of the entire city. At the time, it was a community filled with European immigrants who had traveled far to prosper in the new land. The first folks to arrive in the 17th century were the pack of French fur trappers who could identify the richness of the land and started plying their trade successfully in the marshes. As the town started to grow, Christian Clemens visited the area and decided to purchase a distillery that is now regarded as the first real building built within Macomb. It stood on the future site of Mount Clemens, the county seat. The development of the community took off with various European immigrants moving into the area; specifically, Germans, who cut down the heavily wooded areas to start farms of their own between 1800 and 1840.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Detroit started to industrialize and become the bustling city we know today. As the Northern suburb to the great city, Macomb began to grow in population and popularity. Boasting charming vistas and mineral baths with healing powers, the Macomb County of both today and yesterday remains a break from the stress and pressure of city life.