Do You Know How Brighton Was Named?

Here are five facts explaining how Brighton received the name courtesy of the Brighton Public Library. To read the whole excerpt, click here.

1. The city of Brighton, England, wrote to officials of Brighton, MI, asking if they could furnish information as to how the city originally received its name. Brighton, England, was anxious to learn if Brighton, MI was named for their city, in which case the town would be the recipient of some sort of memorial.

2. A series of articles connected with the early history of Brighton were published and a number of letters were written in order to obtain definite information on the subject. From various sources came rumors which unfortunately were more or less conflicting and the exact truth of the matter was never arrived at.

3. Among letters written at that time was one to Representative Virgil A. Fitch, grandson of Elijah Fitch, one of Brighton’s very first settlers. This letter after a period of about four years has been answered by his son Roscoe C. Fitch of Detroit, who after careful research furnishes information which seems to prove that the town received its name from Brighton, New York, a theory advanced by several at the time the investigation was being conducted

4. The village of Brighton and Brighton township received the name of “Brighton” from the “Brighton House” which was built in July, 1835, by Justice Elijah Fitch for whom Fitch street was named, according to researches conducted by Roscoe Conkling Fitch, of Detroit, great-grandson of the original founder of this place.

5.  Fitch quotes the will of his great-great-grandfather, Elijah Fitch Sr., of Rochester in Brighton township, N.Y. to prove that his great-grandfather, Justice Elijah Fitch, who came to Michigan in 1830, named his hotel after his old home town in New York state.