History of Bay City

Early Days

The Saginaw Valley was Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) homeland long before European settlers arrived, and the river was a main route for travel and trade. In 1819 the Treaty of Saginaw ceded much of the surrounding land to the United States, which opened the valley to settlement.

Leon Trombley is regarded as the first settler. In 1831 he built a log cabin on the east bank of the Saginaw River. In 1834 John B. Trudell built a cabin near what is now Seventeenth Street and Broadway and became the first permanent resident. The settlement was first established in 1837 and was known as Lower Saginaw. A post office called Hampton opened on June 4, 1846 to serve the area.

Lower Saginaw had a natural advantage over the older settlement at Saginaw: its deeper water let larger ships dock, so many early pioneers moved downriver to be near the shipping trade.

When Bay County was organized in 1857, the community was renamed Bay City. The post office followed with the new name on March 22, 1858, and in 1865 the village was incorporated as a city.

The Lumber Boom

By 1860 Lower Saginaw had grown into a busy community of about 2,000 people with several mills and many small businesses. Pine logs were floated down the Saginaw River to sawmills lining the banks, and lumbering, milling and shipbuilding created jobs for thousands of workers.

The wealth of the lumber barons built the city's grand homes, churches and commercial buildings. Many of those mansions are registered historic landmarks, and the Victorian architecture is a big reason people stroll the older neighborhoods today. When the great pine forests were cut over, the city shifted to other industries.

Shipbuilding & Industry

Immigrant Communities

Workers from Germany, Poland, Canada and elsewhere came for mill and shipyard jobs. By the start of World War I, Bay City had a largely German neighborhood called Salzburg. The Polish community built the city's great Catholic churches, including St. Stanislaus Kostka, dedicated in 1892, and the tradition lives on in Polish food, paczki, and the annual St. Stan's Polish Festival.

Bay City's sister cities reflect these roots: Ansbach, Germany; Poznan, Poland; Goderich, Ontario; and Lome, Togo.

Timeline

• 1819 Treaty of Saginaw opens the valley to settlement.
• 1831 Leon Trombley builds a log cabin on the east bank of the Saginaw River.
• 1834 John B. Trudell becomes the first permanent resident.
• 1837 The settlement of Lower Saginaw is established.
• 1846 The Hampton post office opens on June 4.
• 1857 Bay County is organized and the community is renamed Bay City.
• 1860 About 2,000 residents, with several mills in operation.
• 1865 Bay City is incorporated as a city.
• 1873 Pioneer Charles C. Fitzhugh Jr. buys the land that later becomes the City Hall site. The city bought it from his family in 1891 for $8,500.
• 1892 St. Stanislaus Kostka church is dedicated.
• 1905 West Bay City is annexed, joining both sides of the river.
• 1907 The Wenonah Hotel is built.
• 1938 Lafayette Avenue Bridge opens.
• 1950 Population peaks at 52,523.
• 1957 Veterans Memorial Bridge opens.
• 1975 Defoe Shipbuilding closes on December 31.
• 1976 Independence Bridge opens; the Third Street Bridge is damaged by a freighter on June 17.
• 1977 Fire at the Wenonah Hotel on December 10 claims 10 lives.
• 1979 Oppenheim's department store is destroyed by fire on December 24.
• 2010 City Hall is damaged by an attic fire during roofing work on October 12.
• 2012 The USS Edson arrives in the area on August 7 as a museum ship for the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum.
• 2015 Bay City celebrates its sesquicentennial (150 years as a city).
• 2020 Census counts 32,661 residents.

20th Century to Today

The population peaked in 1950 and has declined gradually since, as the lumber and shipbuilding era faded and manufacturing changed. The city has leaned on what it has: a walkable riverfront, historic downtown buildings, antique shops, craft breweries and a busy summer festival calendar, including the Bay City Fireworks Festival.

Bay City Players, a volunteer community theater, is the oldest continuously running community theater in Michigan. The city is governed by a council-manager system with a nine-member City Commission.

Notable People

See It for Yourself