East Saginaw, Michigan

[1] 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.

Two days prior, the first saw mill was destroyed with a $9,000 loss on the building in addition to 500,000 feet (150,000 m) 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.

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.