East Saginaw is a defunct city in

Saginaw County Saginaw County, officially the County of Saginaw, is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 190,124. The county seat is Saginaw. The county was created by September 10, 1822, and was fully orga ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

History

Much of the area that later became East Saginaw was granted by treaty to James Reilly, the

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

son of fur trader Stephen V. R. Reilly and his Chippewa wife, Men-aw-cum-ego-qua, considered the Pocahontas of the village. In 1824, the American Fur company erected a log cabin where the Bancroft house now stands and in 1826 it was tenanted by Captain Leon Snay, a celebrated French hunter and trapper. In 1849, Charles W. Grant was the first permanent American settler here and he encouraged the building of the first school-house near Snay's cabin in 1851. There were three major fires in the history of East Saginaw. The first broke out in the kitchen of the Irving house on July 5, 1854 and spread throughout the village, destroying houses, mills, stores, and of lumber. In total $101,200 worth of damages, $80,000 of which was insured for $43,000. Two days prior, the first saw mill was destroyed with a $9,000 loss on the building in addition to of lumber valued at $6,000. The second fire started in the Jeffers’ block on Water street on May 7, 1861 and was too large by the time it was discovered. Twenty-three buildings and property valued at $55,000 were destroyed, insured for $17,500. Despite the village burning down twice, the settlers remained, stubbornly rebuilding it once again. The third fire started in the wholesale liquor store on Washington Street on January 26, 1865 and spread rapidly to every building for an aggregated $125,000 worth of damages. East Saginaw was settled in 1850, and was incorporated as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1859.''History of Saginaw County, Michigan'' (Chicago: Charpes C. Chapman & Co., 1881) p. 501 On June 2, 1889, the

Michigan State Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article IV of the Michigan Constitution ...

passed an act to consolidate the cities of East Saginaw and

Saginaw City, Michigan ''For the current city, see Saginaw, Michigan'' The City of Saginaw (Saginaw City) is a defunct city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan that has been consolidated into a new municipality bearing the same name. To distinguish between ...

(the west side of the

Saginaw River The Saginaw River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is formed by the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Sh ...

) to form the present-day city of

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, which became effective with the election of officers for the consolidated city in March 1890.

References

1850 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1850 Former cities in Michigan Geography of Saginaw County, Michigan {{SaginawCountyMI-geo-stub