Azalia
Page 38 of Walter Romig's Michigan Place Names says: "Azalia, Monroe County: Stephen B. Frink became the first postmaster of East Milan (named from its location in Milan Township) on Aug. 4, 1869.
Sayre Reeves and his son William operated the Star Bending Company in Azalia. Azalia was also known as Reeves Station or Reeve's Corners. Sayre Reeves and his wife Betsy Young Reeves were both born in 1807 in New York. They had 10 children. The first ones were born in New York; then some were born in Dexter, Michigan; and the youngest ones were born in Oakville, Michigan, just east of Milan. Some of Sayre's children married Azalia residents, so Sayre moved to Azalia and had a home in the center of the community. He died in 1877.
Sayre Reeves led an exciting life: while living in Dexter, he got into a dispute with the local flour mill. This culminated in Reeves aiming his pistol at Deforest Phelps, age 23. Reeves shot and killed the young farmer on May 2, 1845 alongside the mill dam.
On Sept. 1, 1887, the post office was renamed Azalia. Some people say the Ann Arbor Railroad named the station "Azalia" after a conductor's daughter, but that is not true. No railroad official had a daughter or wife by that name. But it makes a fun story!
Azalia is located southeast of Milan in Milan Township.
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