The Monroe area was the scene of several military conflicts during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom and is known for the Battle of Frenchtown.

Long occupied by varying cultures of indigenous peoples, the area around the River Raisin was settled by the historic Potawatomi hundreds of years before French explorers and colonists reached it in the late seventeenth century.

In 1784, after the American Revolutionary War, Francis Navarre of Canada was given a portion of land south of the River Raisin by the Potawatomi.

Colonists settled Frenchtown shortly thereafter as the third European community in what in the early 19th century became the state of Michigan.

Around the same time, the Sandy Creek Settlement was established just north of Frenchtown by French-Canadian Joseph Porlier Benec.

American forces en route to retake Detroit camped in the area of the River Raisin in the winter of 1812–13.

They plundered and burned homes, and killed and ritually scalped many of the remaining American captives, taking others as slaves.

[9] Today, the site of the battle is preserved as the River Raisin National Battlefield Park, authorized in 2009.

[7] Settled mostly by American migrants from New York and New England, Monroe later became associated with events in the West in the later 19th century, particularly the Indian Wars.

It was the childhood home of George Armstrong Custer (1839–1876), who had a military career in which he reached the rank of major general.

[16] Their world headquarters are located in Monroe, south of the intersection of La-Z-Boy Boulevard and Stewart Road.

This new facility is roughly a half mile east of the original location on Telegraph Road; the old building was demolished in 2021, and the site is being redeveloped.

[18] At 805 feet (245 m) tall, the dual smokestacks are visible from more than 25 miles (40 km) away and are among the tallest structures in the state.

In December 1989, a combination of zebra mussels and ice clogged the sole intake pipe of the Monroe water treatment plant, forcing a two-day shutdown of the city's schools, industries, and businesses.

The Port of Monroe is the only Michigan port on Lake Erie,[21] and Sterling State Park, partially within the city limits, is the only one of Michigan's 103 state parks located on or near Lake Erie.

Monroe does not normally have extremely hot or cold temperatures, as its climate is moderated by the lake.

According to the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[27] the top employers in the city are: Monroe is the hometown of the Southern Michigan Timberwolves, a semi-professional football team that competes in the Great Lakes Football League.

Monroe is also served by the Monroe County Intermediate School District, which provides services to other schools in the form of special education services, support staff, substitute teachers, and educational technology (such as computers and distance learning).

It was purchased by GateHouse Media in fall 2015, prior to which time The Monroe News had about 20 years of employee ownership.

Nash Icon WMIM 98.3 is the Cumulus radio station in the area, the studio is in downtown Monroe.

The city of Monroe is served by the Lake Erie Transit public transportation bus system.

Established in 1975, Lake Erie Transit currently has a fleet of 31 buses and serves approximately 400,000 riders every year.

It also serves several neighboring townships outside of its normal routes should a passenger call ahead for a ride.

Present-day freight hauling railroads operating through and around Monroe are the Norfolk Southern, CSX, and the Canadian National.

Historic railroads operating until the 1950s to 1960s were the Pere Marquette, Ann Arbor, Wabash, Grand Trunk Western, and the Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton.

The DU/EM provided valuable and frequent passenger transportation plus carryed freight at a time of unpaved and unreliable roads.

The gradual business lost as Michigan and Ohio and their towns paved highways in the 1920s and resulting growing truck and automobile use, plus the 1930–32 dramatic loss of business caused by the economic impact of the Great Depression shut the interurban down in 1932.

The Eastern Michigan had carried considerable freight and passengers from Detroit to Cleveland exchanged with the Lake Shore Electric interurban at Toledo.