Howell, Michigan

We spent an April afternoon at Bluefrog Books in Howell, Michigan. We enjoyed it, as did the customers who came in to visit us.

Howell, by the way, is known for two things. One is the Ku Klux Klan, due to it being the home of a one-time Grand Dragon and the frequent site of his rallies. This fame may or may not still be fair.

The other is melons. Howell hosts the annual Melon Festival!

We didn’t enjoy a melon. Nor did we see any KKK types. But we did enjoy an afternoon in Howell with patrons of Bluefrog Books.

Howell is the county seat of Livingston County, and was known as Livingston Centre for some time. It was first settled in 1834, and the village platted a year later. The guys who platted the village had a friend named Thomas Howell, and named the city after him. There is a story there, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t even know if Tom Howell had ever been in the town named after him. I have a lot of friends, and no one has ever named a city after me.

I did have the privilege of trying a law suit or two at the Livingston County Courthouse, back in the day when I practiced law. It is a classic county courthouse. It was built in 1889 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.