148 W. Saginaw St. Incorporated as a village in 1889. |
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Merrill is located near the northwestern corner of Saginaw County, on M-46. This is primarily a farming community with several small businesses and stores.
It was named after N. W. Merrill of the Saginaw Valley & St. Louis Railroad, who helped the town rebuild after a forest fire destroyed it in 1881.
Saginaw and Gratiot County State Road
In 1869 Saginaw lumbermen Ammi Wright and William Glasby built a thirty-two-mile long plank road connecting Saginaw and St. Louis. The road later became M-46.
Saginaw Valley and St. Louis Railroad
In 1873 the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis Railroad Company laid tracks from Paines Junction to St. Louis, along side the plank road. This allowed for export of agricultural and lumbering products and the import of necessary supplies. In 1879 the line was extended to Alma. By that year, parties in the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad Company, who owned a majority of stock in the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis, had taken over the smaller line. The Saginaw Valley retained a separate title until 1897 when it merged with the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad.
The Tri-Cities Local Area Guide