The Only Town Located in Michigan's Lower Thumb Knuckle

Here's a little town I found accidentally: Marysville, located in the county of St. Clair, on the shores of the St. Clair River, at the bottom knuckle of Michigan's Thumb. It's the only town in that lower knuckle...sure, others are close, like Smiths Creek and Kimball, but Marysville has 'em beat.

Marysville's recorded history seems to go back further than most Michigan towns – back to 1786 when a sawmill was erected at a nearby creek by Antoin Morass. In 1817, Zephaniah Bunce came up the St. Clair River, docked at the mill, and proclaimed the community as 'Bunce Creek' in his own honor.

Another sawmill popped up in 1792 at the location now known as Cuttle Creek, now part of Marysville's southern area.

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Colonel Andrew Mack was Detroit's 11th mayor, and he arrived, bought one of the mills, built himself a house, and opened a general store that he dubbed “Mack's Place”. Not only was Mack a Detroit mayor, but also a co-founder of the Detroit Free Press, a state representative, and a Colonel in the War of 1812.

Ed Vickery arrived around 1850 and named his site 'Vickery's Landing'. It was shortened to 'Vicksburg', but in 1854 they realized there was another 'Vicksburg' - so the town name was changed to 'Marysville, after Nelson Mill's wife, Mary (and who the heck was Nelson Mills, anyhow?)

Marysville's early infrastructure was impressive for the times, with electricity, roads, and sidewalks..in fact, the town was nicknamed "Dream City" thanks to all the newfangled ideas. The dream died, however, thanks to the Great Depression and the town never lived up to it's foreseen potential.

These days, Marysville has been making a comeback...visit and you'll see. But first take a look at the gallery below for some vintage photos of old Marysville from the turn of the 20th Century...