Photi knows Monroe

A battle cry, a general, and 25 dispensaries on the Ohio line.

Founded in 1817 and named for President James Monroe, the city sits where the River Raisin empties into Lake Erie — strategic enough to be contested, and in January 1813 it was. The Battle of the River Raisin was one of the worst American defeats of the War of 1812, and the massacre that followed gave the war its rallying cry: Remember the Raisin. It's now the only War of 1812 national battlefield in the country. George Armstrong Custer grew up here, married Libbie Bacon here in 1864, and still rides downtown in bronze — sabre raised, looking south toward Ohio.

The cannabis corridor came from geography and timing. When Michigan legalized recreational in 2018, Monroe County — on the Ohio line, next to Toledo, straight down I-75 — became the first Michigan stop for Ohio buyers whose state hadn't legalized. LaPlaisance Road near Exit 11 became the strip: a dozen-plus dispensaries within walking distance, most open until 10pm, all priced for a real market. Ann Arbor owns the history of cannabis in Michigan. Detroit owns the market. Lansing owns the industry. Monroe owns the border — and everything Ohio comes through it.