On 11 Mile Road at West North Union Road, on the left when traveling north on 11 Mile Road.
In 1868 the Williams Township Board of Health authorized a township burial ground and voted to purchase land for that purpose. In 1871 the board purchased five acres previously designated for school purposes from the state of Michigan for twenty . . . — — Map (db m163589) HM
When Bay City's sawmills opened in 1885, mill owners notified workers that wages would be 12 to 25 percent lower than in 1884. On July 6, 1885, Bay City millhands began to walk off the job. Their slogan, "Ten Hours or No Sawdust," represented . . . — — Map (db m162453) HM
On Washington Avenue (State Highway 84) north of 10th Street, on the right when traveling south.
Abraham Lincoln Dedicated to the Grand Army of the Republic and The Women Who Served Daughters of Union Veterans of Civil War 1861-1865
Lincoln’s Address Delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863.
. . . — — Map (db m131778) HM WM
On Center Avenue (State Highway 25) at North Jackson Street, on the right when traveling east on Center Avenue.
After being housed in various buildings since 1869, the east-side branch library found a permanent home thanks to the Carnegie Corporation, local leaders William Clements, James E. Davidson, and Charles R. Wells, and the government and citizens of . . . — — Map (db m198353) HM
On South River Road (State Highway 13) 3.5 miles north of Interstate 75, on the left when traveling north.
One of the first attempts in America to produce beet sugar was made in Michigan at White Pigeon late in the 1830's. The venture did not succeed though the future governor John Barry went to Europe seeking to learn its production methods. In 1888 Dr. . . . — — Map (db m180634) HM
On Center Avenue (State Highway 25) at North Madison Avenue (State Highway 25), on the right when traveling east on Center Avenue.
Center Avenue presents one of the most spectacular displays of late nineteenth and early twentieth century residential architecture in Michigan. Between 1870 and 1940 Bay City's prominent citizens favored Center Avenue as "the" place to live. Early . . . — — Map (db m33961) HM
On Center Avenue (Michigan Route 25) at Livingston Street, on the right when traveling west on Center Avenue.
Center Avenue presents one of the most spectacular displays of late nineteenth and early twentieth century residential architecture in Michigan. Between 1870 and 1940 Bay City´s prominent citizens favored Center Avenue as "the" place to live. Early . . . — — Map (db m161001) HM
On Center Avenue (State Highway 25) at North Grant Street, on the right when traveling east on Center Avenue.
Charles came to Bay City in 1864 from Ithaca, NY, to work for sawmill owners Henry Sage and John McGraw, eventually buying the Bay City Dredging Co. His home's architecture is Shavian Manorial, a Queen Anne/Tudor Revival style named after the . . . — — Map (db m33909) HM
Near Adams Street at 4th Street, on the right when traveling north.
Before the advent of the World Wide Web, indeed even before the advent of telephones and automobiles, it was the railroad that kept us connected. Communities to communities. Businesses to customers. People to one another. Americans to their . . . — — Map (db m131789) HM
On Center Avenue (State Highway 25) at North Jackson Street, on the right when traveling west on Center Avenue.
Side 1
In 1848, James G. Birney and his wife led Bay City's earliest Presbyterian services in a schoolhouse. Birney, an elder in the church, twice ran unsuccessfully for president on the antislavery ticket. The Reverend Lucius Root organized . . . — — Map (db m33696) HM
On Center Avenue (State Highway 25) at Livingston Street, on the right when traveling west on Center Avenue.
The introduction of chicory into Bay County, at the beginning of the twentieth century brought a ___ industry into the area and provided the farmers with a profitable cash crop. Chicory was a popular beverage in Europe at the time. The chicory root, . . . — — Map (db m180656) HM
On Westside Saginaw Road (State Highway 84) at Ziegler Road, on the right when traveling north on Westside Saginaw Road.
Frankenlust
One of four colonies in Michigan settled by people from Franconia, Germany, Frankenlust was founded by Pastor Ferdinand Sievers and fourteen immigrants who established Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in June 1848. On July . . . — — Map (db m138097) HM
On North Monroe Street north of Center Avenue (State Highway 25), on the right when traveling north.
George began as a laborer in his father James' lumber business, eventually managing what became Shearer Brothers when his brother James B. joined the firm. The lumber, real estate and insurance company operated out of the Shearer Brothers Block at . . . — — Map (db m131779) HM
On Center Avenue at North Jefferson Street, on the right when traveling west on Center Avenue.
This 9-inch Dahlgren Cannon is a true replica of those in place at Battery Park from the early 1900s to 1942. The originals were part of the arsenal aboard the USS Hartford, the flagship of Rear Admiral David G. Farragut. During the Civil . . . — — Map (db m182351) HM
On South River Road (State Highway 13) 0.8 miles south of McGraw Street, on the right when traveling south.
(Side 1)
In 1926 the Bay City Chamber of Commerce recognized the economic benefits that could be derived from a local airport. That year the chamber decided to build one and dedicate it to Bay City men killed during World War I. The . . . — — Map (db m180636) HM
On Washington Avenue north of 7th Street (State Highway 25), on the left when traveling north.
This plaque is issued by the Historical Society of Michigan in recognition of Keit’s Florist founded in 1856 for more than 100 years of continuous operation in service to the people of Michigan and for contributing to the economic growth and . . . — — Map (db m131787) HM
On East Midland Street at Litchfield Street, on the left when traveling east on East Midland Street.
The Midland Street Commercial District comprises fifty buildings in a four-block area that was the business hub of West Bay City. Prior to 1830 the area was occupied by Sauk and Chippewa Indians. In response to depleted eastern timberlands resulting . . . — — Map (db m163221) HM
On Center Avenue at Saginaw Street, on the right when traveling east on Center Avenue.
Spend some time wandering around Bay City and you'll notice a few names appearing time and time again...on buildings, streets and parks. Some identify the person responsible without a hint of their accomplishments. Others reflect the early . . . — — Map (db m182354) HM
On North Euclid Avenue (Michigan Route 247) at Hidden Road, on the right when traveling north on North Euclid Avenue.
Established in 1847, the Ogaukawning Indian Mission, the first church in present-day Bay County, served Chippewa Indians at the nearby Kawkawlin settlement. First ministered by Methodist missionaries, it soon came under Indian trusteeship and still . . . — — Map (db m182297) HM
On Broadway Street (State Highway 13) at 35th Street, on the right when traveling south on Broadway Street.
This boulder is erected
to the memory of
O-Ge-Ma Ke-Ga-To
Chief Speaker of the Chippewas
Born about 1794,; elected chief, 1815;
spoke at treaty, 1819; spoke before
Congress, 1837; died, 1840
First buried on property now known . . . — — Map (db m180642) HM
On East Midland Street south of South Wenona Street, on the right when traveling east.
Henry W. Sage (1814-1897) founded the village of Wenona (later West Bay City) in 1863. A merchant and philanthropist, he was also a founder of the Sage, McGraw and Company sawmill. In 1881 he donated property, building funds and $10,000 for books to . . . — — Map (db m163167) HM
On State Park Drive near North Euclid Avenue (State Route 247).
This bay derives its name from the Sauk Indians who once dwelt by its shores. Adrien Jolliet, on his voyage down Lake Huron’s western shore in 1669, first made it known to the white man. In the late 1800's an immense lumber industry flourished in . . . — — Map (db m182360) HM
On 3rd Street west of North Sherman Street, on the right when traveling west.
St. Joseph was the first Catholic parish in the Saginaw Valley when it was founded in 1850-51 by missionary Joseph Kindekens. Dedicated on March 19, 1911, this building is the third to serve St. Joseph. During the late nineteenth century St. Joseph . . . — — Map (db m162342) HM
On Kosciuszko Avenue west of South Farragut Street, on the right when traveling west.
St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Polish refugees who escaped Prussian domination settled in Bay City. In 1874 they formed a society under the patronage of Saint Stanislaus Kostka of . . . — — Map (db m161004) HM
On South Catherine Street at East Thomas Street (State Route 25), on the left when traveling south on South Catherine Street.
During the 1870s, Swedish immigrants arrived in Bay County. By 1880 many Swedes had settled in West Bay City. In October of that year, fifty people organized the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Sion Church, affiliated with the Augustana Synod. A year . . . — — Map (db m163096) HM
On Center Avenue at Adams Street, on the right when traveling east on Center Avenue.
Historic photographs show two traffic control shacks located on Center Avenue east and west of the railroad tracks that ran down what is now Jefferson Avenue. These hexagon-shaped buildings housed guardsmen when trains left or arrived at the F & PM . . . — — Map (db m182352) HM
On Center Avenue (State Highway 25) at North Grant Street, on the right when traveling west on Center Avenue.
Trinity Church
Trinity Church grew from a small group of settlers served by Episcopal missionaries beginning around 1842. Church records credit William and Ann Fitzhugh with founding the church. On March 4, 1854, fourteen people, led by the . . . — — Map (db m33912) HM
On Center Avenue at North Jefferson Street, on the right when traveling east on Center Avenue.
This 13-inch mortar cannon is a true replica of those in place at Battery Park from the early 1900s to 1942.
The originals were thought to be part of the Confederate arsenal at Fort Sumter, which is recognized as the official beginning of the . . . — — Map (db m182353) HM
On Amelith Road, 0.2 miles west of Kraenzlein Road, on the right when traveling east.
St. John Evangelical Lutheran German missionary Pastor Ferdinand Sievers organized St. John Church in June 1852 to serve a colony of German migrants, some fleeing the turmoil that followed the European revolutions of 1848. Initially, the church . . . — — Map (db m180379) HM
On Weadock Highway, 0.6 miles north of Woodside Avenue, on the left when traveling north.
In 1894 William Jennison, a yachtsman for fifty years, founded the Bay City Boating and Fishing Club. The first clubhouse, located on the Saginaw River, was moved across the ice to this site around 1902. A larger, stylish building was soon erected. . . . — — Map (db m163334) HM
On Woodside Avenue east of Scheurmann Street, on the left when traveling east.
The first successful beet sugar factory in Michigan was built in 1898 by the Michigan Sugar Company on Woodside Avenue in Essexville. A year later the Bay City Sugar Company built a competing factory across the street. The two plants merged in 1903 . . . — — Map (db m163255) HM