Want to know the history behind Ecorse? Read on.
Once a burial ground for Huron Indians, Ecorse got its name from French settlers who named the area after the birch trees that grew thick along the river. The settlers named the area “Rivière Aux Échorches” or The River of the Barks. These same birch trees were also crucial to the first inhabitants of the land. Local Native American tribes used birch bark to wrap the bodies of chiefs who died before burial.
The primary industry in Ecorse was logging for a long time and contributed too many jobs. When steel production became huge in the 1900s, Ecorse got its first steel mill, Michigan Steel Mill, in 1923.
On September 19, 1941, Ecorse became a city, and on September 19, 1942, it adopted the city charter.
