Residents of Bay County held elections for county officials in June 1857. Under the act, the county was to become effective April 20, 1857. Freeman, that allowed Bay County to claim ratification. The bill passed by the legislature included phrasing, which was deliberately included by the Bay City lawyer Chester H. However, the population within the boundaries proposed for Bay County approved the measure. The matter was put before all the voters of Saginaw and Midland counties and was soundly defeated. After initial opposition from the representatives of Saginaw and Midland counties, a compromise revision that would present the matter for ratification to the voters of "in said county" was passed by the legislature on February 17, 1857. In 1857, a new bill was introduced into the legislature. In 1854, a bill introduced to the state legislature to create Bay County was defeated by a small majority. There was considerable opposition to the creation of Bay County from elected officials in both Saginaw and Midland counties. Its name references that it "surrounds Saginaw Bay." Being only sparsely populated at that time, Arenac County government was unorganized and was attached to Saginaw County for administrative purposes.
( August 2012)īay County was created in 1857 from portions of Midland County, Saginaw County, and Arenac County. This section needs expansion with: history after the county was organized.