When James Graham and his family established the first non-native settlement in the future Oakland County, Michigan in the spring of 1817, they were trusting that the government surveyors who had written the region off as a wasteland were wrong. After they found rich soil and waterways that could drive sawmills and grist mills, they were not alone for long. Within a generation, a healthy community was established and thriving. Natural resources supported the population of Rochester and Avon until the twentieth century development of the automobile industry redefined the area's economy, its landscape, and its demographics.