Detroit and Cadillac.... and where those names came from

[voyageur]

Salut mes amis,

all of you know where Detroit is and what a Cadillac is. But I bet many of you never thought "where the hell do these names come from?". Well, let me tell you what you find when traveling near Bordeaux along the Route Départementale onze (RD11 or D11). First you see this sign:



The castle and village have been named after the once famous Antoine Laumet, genannt „Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac“ (1658–1730). He was a french military leader (officer?) in the 17th century. He was stationed in the (then) French part of America, stretching from the Mississippi delta all the way to the great lakes. At the banks of lake Erie he founded a city (trading post) and named it "Ville d´Etroit" (later changed to Detroit). Many, many, many moons later some people thought it would be a great idea to honour him by calling an automobile "Cadillac".

The castle where Antoine came from looks like that:





Now, how did I stumble across this place? Well, easy enough: I always preferred to take the old, windy, beautiful, interesting small roads (route national) instead of numbing my mind on the interstate highways (autoroute). Behind every corner you find interesting things, be it automotive or architectural or just plain scenery. Apart from that you save a lot of péage

If you want to get around Bordeaux during rush-hour... take the little detour through the wineyards and stop your Cadillac in Cadillac! If you don't have one... sod it, ha! I never had one, but stopped there on my way to the Atlantic coast in a number of different cars, most recently with my SWATmobil. Meet some classic car follies here



or here:







Allright folks, hope I had a chance to shed some light concerning the origin of these names.

Bonne journée!
Sébastien

[CrateCruncher]

Interesting post. Chevrolet and LaSalle brands also have a French connection, no?

[jano11]

Originally Posted by voyageur

The castle and village have been named after the once famous Antoine Laumet, genannt „Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac“ (1658–1730).

To be honest it was the <<once famous Antoine Laumet, genannt „Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac“>> who was named after the place and not the other way around.

'Sieur de Cadillac' kind of means 'Sir of Cadillac', Cadillac being the location where he was regarded as highest rang person.

[voyageur]

Originally Posted by jano11

To be honest it was the <<once famous Antoine Laumet, genannt „Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac“>> who was named after the place and not the other way around.

'Sieur de Cadillac' kind of means 'Sir of Cadillac', Cadillac being the location where he was regarded as highest rang person.

Oops, yeah. You're right. Thanks for pointing it out

[ChillyB]

Originally Posted by CrateCruncher

Interesting post. Chevrolet and LaSalle brands also have a French connection, no?

Louis Chevrolet was born in Switzerland, lived in France and Canada before moving to the USA. He was a successful race driver before founding the car company.

And Robert La Salle (as we Americans call him) was, of course, one of the great French explorers of North America. He was also a "sieur" as noted about Cadillac.

And Ville d'Etroit means "city of/on the straits" in French, Detroit being located on the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. In other words, it is quite a literal place name.

[jano11]

Originally Posted by ChillyB

And Ville d'Etroit means "city of/on the straits" in French, Detroit being located on the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. In other words, it is quite a literal place name.

That something I never thought about. Thanks for pointing it out.