Charles Christopher Trowbridge (December 29, 1800 – April 3, 1883)[1] was an explorer, politician, businessman, and ethnographer of Native American cultures who lived in Detroit during the 19th century.

[1] Rowland encouraged Trowbridge to study law, and the young man quickly picked up a great deal of legal knowledge, and assisted in recording the 1820 census in Michigan Territory.

With this experience, and his knowledge of the Cherokee language, Trowbridge was appointed assistant secretary in the local government department for Native American affairs, and soon after was also made interpreter.

[1] He worked at this, as well as his interpreter duties, through 1825, when he resigned his post in favor of becoming cashier of the newly established Bank of Michigan.

That same year, he built a home, the Charles Trowbridge House, on Jefferson Avenue[2] on what was then farmland about a mile from the heart of the city.

In 1833, Trowbridge became an alderman of the city of Detroit,[1] and briefly served as Mayor during the cholera epidemic of 1834, resigning his position soon after.