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The square was laid out as part of the town's gridiron plan and named after Joseph Loranger, who in 1817 offered a portion of his land south of the River Raisin and upstream from old Frenchtown as the location for a new village. After the River Raisin massacre during the War of 1812, families who had fled the settlement on the north bank of the river at the edge of the Great Marsh returned and new settlers arrived. Monroe was established as the seat of the government of Monroe County in 1817 and named after then-president James Monroe. The Pavilion (2006) offers visitors shelter.