[3] Henry W. Sage and his business partner, John McGraw, arrived in Bay City area in the early 1860s to open a sawmill and lumberyard.

In 1884, Sage contracted with the area's best known architectural firm, Pratt and Koeppe, to design this library, and hired Andrew Thomson as the contractor to construct it.

In 2002-04 an extensive renovation restored many historic features, converted the attic into a library area, and included an addition to the rear of building.

[2] The Sage Library is a rectangular, 2-1/2-story, four bay wide red brick building with a multi-colored ashlar fieldstone foundation, and highlighted with pink Amherst stone.

The front facade has a projecting entryway covered with a gable roof two bays wide, with a rounded archway and double doors.