Books › Saginaw City Directory 1925, 1925 › scan 6
Scan 6
Saginaw City Directory 1925, 1925
23 lines. Read by computer on 17 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1east side of the river, known as East Saginaw, was growing up and this in turn was incorporated in 1848. A third settlement, Salina, so named from the great salt deposits of the valley, which were developed about the same time as the lumber industry and adding greatly to the wealth of the valley, grew up and was incorporated in 1866 under the name of South Saginaw.
3In 1873 the process of incorporating these settlements into a single city began with the merging of East Saginaw and South Saginaw under the name of the former. This was followed in 1890 by the consolidation of Saginaw City, the original settlement, with East Saginaw to form the present city of Saginaw.
5INDUSTRY SUCCEEDS LUMBER
6Toward the end of the nineteenth century the lumber which many had thought inexhaustible, began to give out, and as a result the sawmill industry commenced to languish. Two forces combined to save the city from the stagnation or total disappearance which was the fate of many of the early Michigan lumbering towns. One was the discovery in the closing years of the century of large deposits of soft coal in the valley, easily accessible. The other was the introduction into Saginaw of many large manufacturing plants. These grew rapidly and soon succeeded lumber as the dominant influence in the valley. Their development, continued until the present day and still gaining headway, has accomplished the transition from lumber to industry in a manner so gradual that residents of the city hardly realized it until the change had been made. Lumber is still an important factor in the city's business, but the several big plants devoted to the industry derive their supplies of raw materials from Georgian Bay, from the south or the Pacific coast states rather than from the Saginaw valley itself.
8SAGINAW NOW INDUSTRIAL CENTER
9While millions of feet of pine lumber from the Saginaw valley once floated down the river to scores of sawmills, it is as an industrial community that the city now has its greatest influence. Industries numbering 120 manufacture 125 main classes of products with many associated articles.
11Many of these industries furnish products that are nationally known. Six plants of the General Motors Corporation group of industries manufacture automobile motors, steering gears, crankshafts, grey and malleable iron castings, plate glass and other products for General Motors and other cars.
13FINANCIAL STRENGTH
14Local banks are all strong and prosperous institutions. Four in number (three of them state and one national institutions) they show a stability and size which causes them to rank among the leading financial institutions in Michigan. Total banking figures, March, 1925: Capital, $2,550,000; surplus, $2,933,000; deposits, $38,577,000; loans, $39,055,000.
16COMMISSION GOVERNMENT IN FORCE
17Saginaw is governed under the commission system. The governing body of the city is a five-man commission, including a mayor and four councilmen, each elected for a four year term. They constitute both the legislative and executive body of the city, the council as a whole exercising the legislative functions, while each of its members is head of an administrative department of the city government. Police and fire departments are operated by this city government in an efficient manner and are well provided with necessary men and apparatus. The police department has 90 men, while the fire department has 107 men and 14 pieces of motor apparatus.
19Saginaw has 100 miles of paved streets, said to be the largest mileage possessed by any city of its size in the United States. The health of the city's residents is guarded by an efficient city health department, operating in the schools as well as among the residents generally. Within the past few years this department has brought about a marked improvement in health conditions, an improvement which shows every indication of continuing.
21BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY PROSPEROUS
22According to the most reliable estimates over 16,000 men are employed in Saginaw's industrial plants. They form a contented body
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