The Saginaw community
is located in Mid-Michigan, in a region made up of Saginaw, Midland,
and Bay Counties. It's comprised of slightly over 800 square
miles of excellent agricultural land, forests, waterways, and
industrial areas. To the south are the major industrial cities of
Ann Arbor and Detroit. To the north are Michigan's wonderful natural
attractions of lakes, recreation areas, and the Upper Peninsula. To
the west is the heart of Michigan, and to the east is Michigan's
Thumb, an area renowned for its admirable farming industry. Saginaw is
a community truly situated at the center of Michigan and all of its
attractions.
The earliest evidence of a
population in the Saginaw Valley is from Paleo-Indian nomads of around
12,000 years ago. They came to the Saginaw Valley to hunt the mammoth
and other big game. They left behind them permanent records of their
existence in some of the most valuable archaeological sites in
Michigan. The population changed from nomadic Paleo-Indians to the
Early Archaic culture, then to the Middle Archaic culture, when the
first permanent Indian settlements were made at around 3000 B.C.
The Early Woodland cultures
followed, including the Hopewell Indians - the prehistoric mound
builders - who settled along the Saginaw River around 500 B.C. By the
time the first European explorers and missionaries arrived around
1650, the Late Woodland Indians were occupying the river settlements.
The name Saginaw is derived from an Ojibway term "O-Sag-e-non" or
"Sag-in-a-we" that means "to flow out" and probably refers to the
outflow of the Saginaw River into the Saginaw Bay. The Ojibway were
one of the Late Woodland Indian cultures.
Immediately after the War of
1812, the American Fur Company established a trading post on the west
side of the Saginaw River. Fort Saginaw was built at what is now Court
and Hamilton Streets in 1822 but, due to the mosquito-infested
swampland surrounding it, it was abandoned in 1823. In 1836, Saginaw
City, population 400, was founded by Norman Little. By the middle of
the century, the population grew to 900, due in part to the German
immigrants who established agricultural settlements in the area. Due
to infusions of capital by Jesse Hoyt of New York, residents
flourished on the eastern side of the Saginaw River as well and East
Saginaw was incorporated as a village in 1854. The value of the land's
forests was heavily publicized by Norman Little and in 1855 there were
23 sawmills in the area producing a hundred-million board feet of
lumber a year. By the 1880s, two sawmills alone each produced over 50
million board feet.
Intense rivalry and competition
developed between Saginaw City and East Saginaw, with the latter being
much more prosperous due to funds given by Jesse Hoyt. The rivalry
resulted in many civic improvements for both, and a severe case of
one-upmanship between the two communities. Architecturally, East
Saginaw prospered quite well, with an elaborate 1898 French
chateau-style post office (today it's a museum) and a grand
Richardsonian-style library built in 1890 named the Hoyt Library. The
library was made possible by a gift of $100,000 from Jesse Hoyt in
1883, plus additional funds afterward.
From the late 1800s to the
current day, Saginaw (the combination of both Saginaw City and East
Saginaw) has seen its share of memorable events, tragedies, and
accomplishments. It saw the transition from carriage works to one of
the country's first automobile dealerships, from peacetime activities
to being a key manufacturer of wartime materiél. It saw its residents
become famous, such as actress Marie Dressler and cowboy actor Tim
McCoy. It had part of itself destroyed in a terrible fire and severe
floods, and rebuilt to greater proportions. By virtue of it all, the
people of the community of Saginaw can be proud of their heritage.
Early Car
Manufacturing in Saginaw
For more historical information go to: |
Saginaw
Future Inc.