In 1834 Louis Moran, a member of a French family prominent in Detroit since the mid-1700s, purchased land here and opened a log tavern and trading post. An Indian settlement called Middle Village was nearby, on the trail from Gull Prairie to Grand Rapids. Moran moved to Grand Rapids about 1837, and his interests were taken over by nineteen-year-old Robert Scales of Kentucky. Since then the area has been known as Scales’ Prairie, although its namesake departed after a ten year residence.