Bay City, Michigan

Bay City is a city in Bay County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 32,661 at the 2020 census. The city is located just upriver from the Saginaw Bay on the Saginaw River. It is the principal city of the Bay City metropolitan area, which is coterminous with Bay County as part of the larger Greater Tri-Cities region of Central Michigan. Several historic bridges cross the Saginaw River in Bay City, including Liberty Bridge, Veterans Memorial Bridge, Independence Bridge, and Lafayette Avenue Bridge.

Leon Tromblé is regarded as the first settler within the limits of Bay County, in an area which would become Bay City. In 1831, he built a log cabin on the east bank of the Saginaw river. Bay City was first established in 1837 and was incorporated as a city in 1865. In 1834 John B. Trudell built a log-cabin near the present corner of Seventeenth and Broadway. Trudell later purchased land that extended from his residence north along the river to what later became the location for the Industrial Brownhoist, making him the first permanent resident of what has become Bay County. Bay City became the largest community in the county and the location of the county seat of government. Most of the county's agencies and associations are located here. The city shares common borders with Essexville and the townships of Bangor, Frankenlust, Hampton, Merritt, Monitor, and Portsmouth.

Bay City was originally known as "Lower Saginaw," and fell within the boundaries of Saginaw County. On June 4, 1846, the Hapton, or Hampton, Post Office opened to service Lower Saginaw. The community was placed in Bay County, when the county was organized in 1857. It was at this time that the name was changed to Bay City.^{[citation needed]} The Post Office changed its name to Bay City on March 22, 1858.

While Saginaw had the first non-native settlement in this area in 1819, larger ships had difficulty navigating the shallower water near the Saginaw settlement. Many of the early pioneers moved to Lower Saginaw as it became clear its deeper waters made it a better location for the growth of industry which relied on shipping. By 1860, Lower Saginaw had become a bustling community of about 2,000 people with several mills and many small businesses in operation. In 1865, the village of Bay City was incorporated as a city. Rapid economic growth took place during this time period, with lumbering, milling, and shipbuilding creating many jobs. The early industrialists in the area used the Saginaw River as a convenient means to float lumber to the mills and factories and as a consequence amass large fortunes. Many of the mansions built during this era are registered as historical landmarks by the state and federal government.

In 1873, Charles C. Fitzhugh, Jr., a Bay City pioneer, and his wife, Jane, purchased land and built a home on property bounded by Washington, Saginaw, Ninth and Tenth Streets, which later became the location for City Hall. Fitzhugh dealt on a large scale in wild lands and farms, being an agent for over 25,000 acres (100 km²) of land in Bay County. During this time, Washington Avenue was primarily developed with residential homes. Businesses were concentrated along Water Street near the Saginaw River. As time went on, businesses started to expand along Washington Avenue. In 1891, the Fitzhughs sold the land to the City of Bay City for $8,500 "to be used for the erection of a City Hall and offices and for no other purposes whatever."

Until 1905, the City of Bay City was limited to the east bank of the Saginaw River. when West Bay City was annexed.

During the latter half of the 19th century, Bay City was the home of several now-closed industries including many sawmills and shipyards. The Defoe Shipbuilding Company, which ceased operations December 31, 1975, built destroyer escorts, guided missile destroyers, and patrol craft for the United States Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. To maintain this strong Naval heritage, the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum worked through the Naval Sea Systems Command to bring the USS Edson (DD-946) to Bay City as a museum ship. It was finally delivered to its temporary home in Essexville, Michigan, on August 7, 2012. Another important part of the city's industrial history is Industrial Brownhoist, which was well known for its construction of large industrial cranes.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Bay City contained a largely German neighborhood called Salzburg. The German-descended minority became the focus of extreme nativism and xenophobia. Pastors introduced English-language sermons for the first time in Salzburg but it did not catch on and sermons in Salzburg remained mostly German. The Salzburghers demanded that the rest of Bay City recognize them as Americans first and German-American second but hostility towards them continued. The governor of Michigan at the time, Albert Sleeper, sought support from the German-American community but experienced backlash. Even before the declaration of war against Germany, anti-German sentiment was so strong that hundreds of young men from Michigan had gone across the border to Canada to join the Canadian Armed Forces so as to be a part of the war effort.