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History · Merrill

Merrill’s history is mostly unwritten

The public archives hold just one old photo of Merrill. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1old photo or paper
1famous people
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What stands out about Merrill’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Merrill’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Merrill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Merrill’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Merrill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Merrill.

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The area was uninhabited until 1872 when the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis Railroad developed into the area. A local resident named Greene established a sawmill here, and a new settlement began to grow around it. A post office named Greene opened on May 21, 1875. Merchants also moved to the area and began setting up businesses along a nearby crossroad, and this site became known as Merrill by 1881. The name came from N. W. Merrill, who was a railroad worker that befriended and assisted the locals during forest fires that same year. The Greene post office was renamed Merrill on November 2, 1881. Merrill incorporated as a village in 1889.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Merrill, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Atlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actual surveys and records1877Atlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actu…Map
Today2 recent
Merrill, MI village hall (September 2022)2022Merrill, MI village hall (September 2022) Merrill, MI location2019Merrill, MI location

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia and Wikidata for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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