In 1903, Macomb-resident Elizabeth J. Magie Phillips, better known to her friends as Lizzie Magie, invented The Landlord’s Game, a clever game about realty and taxation. She hoped to use the game to teach the principles of economist Henry George, who believed that the government should be funded solely by taxing real estate. Although Magie patented her idea in 1904, she would never earn a dime from the game closely based off of it: Monopoly.
In 1933, a struggling salesman Charles Darrow heard word of an increasingly popular game about real estate juggling. He switched up the names of properties in the game for places in Atlantic City, New Jersey and a hit was born. When he sold the rights to Parker Brothers in 1935, he lied and said he’d made it up for his children during the worst years of the Great Depression. It would make him a millionaire.
History may have all but forgotten Magie, but the town of Macomb never did. In 2024, officials unveiled ‘Macombopoly,’ “the world’s largest Monopoly-style game board” to celebrate. The board is located on Macomb’s Historic Courthouse Square, indicated by painted sections on the sidewalk. The location bears striking similarities to Elizabeth’s board design, as the corner of the jail square aligns with where the town’s real jail once stood
The center of Courthouse Square is decorated with silver sculptures inspired by the game’s iconic play tokens. Visitors can admire a giant set of dice and a top hat, alongside a statue of Elizabeth herself. Original boardgames and other historic materials are on display outside the bank in Courthouse Square.
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