Novi Tutors

About Novi

According to Novi tutors there has been much debate of the origin of the name Novi, and how it came about as the name of the city that was once called by a much more pedestrian name; “Farmington”.

The name Farmington would suggest a ‘farming town’, which was a fair assessment of how most small villages came into being before industrialization. Most small villages were communal locations for amenities for neighboring farms that specialized in a particular crop or agriculture. In Detroit the proximity to the water meant that nearby villages were able to harness hydroelectric power, and advancements in technology surpassed other regions in the U.S. at a dramatic rate. As the desirability of this location lead to greater investment, this generated even more momentum in the productivity of this region.

So speculation regarding the name arose because of it being so unusual and unlike the other more ‘normal’ names that generally were chosen for townships at the time. Novi tutors and students alike have scoured libraries, and read numerous articles trying to ascertain who if he or she existed this ‘Novi’ was. If indeed the town was named after a person at all. However no such records could be found.

Another school of thought surrounding the name “Novi” was perhaps if it had been incorrectly written down or a misread annotation, and had somehow become through miscommunication the name that was used. This theory became popular by scholars who knew that in roman numerals, VI means six. So the search then became to find what special relevance "No. VI" or the number six had to the area. Those with more curious minds began counting train stops, street signs and even tollgates to give a reason to the name. A theory that stuck for some time was that the town was named after the Grand River’s sixth tollgate. Historians, who proved that chronologically this did not make sense at all, quickly dismissed this.

The truth behind the name proved to be much simpler and almost due to it’s random nature somewhat unbelievable. Yet multiple texts confirm this to be the truth. Around the time the township was named in 1832 there was an open forum with the residents who collectively agreed that they would prefer a new and much shorter name for their township. Anyone who has named a pet or a child would know that naming someone or in this case somewhere is a huge responsibility and it can be difficult to get everybody on board to agree with the choice. Several members of the community no doubt had suggestions of what the township should be called. Yet, it was the name Novi brought forward by Dr. J.C.Emery (his wife’s idea) that captured the town’s approval.

Ironically, "Novi" when translated from Latin means unknown.