Saginaw

The site of what is presently the City of Saginaw was originally inhabited by Native Americans. The Sauk lived in the area and were driven from the area by Ojibwe (Chippewa). The name Saginaw is believed to mean "where the Sauk were" in the Ojibwe language. French missionaries and traders first appeared in the area during the late 1600s. The first permanent settlement by those other than Native Americans was in 1815 when Louis Campau established a trading post on the west bank of the Saginaw River. Shortly thereafter the United States established Fort Saginaw.

During the 1900s, Saginaw's economy was dominated by manufacturing related to the automotive industry. Immigration from other areas, particularly the American south, swelled the population. This population growth particularly expanded the presence of African-Americans in Saginaw. The politics of the city became dominated with issues of race relations. The manufacturing presence in Saginaw declined in the latter half of the 20th century and the population diminished as well. Saginaw has faced increasing social problems relating to poverty as a result of its high rate of unemployment. Crime has been a major area of concern for the community in recent years.

Saginaw is the largest principal city of the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Saginaw-Saginaw Township North (Saginaw County) and Bay City (Bay County) metropolitan areas, which had a combined population of 320,196 at the 2000 census.

There were 23,182 households out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.9% were married couples living together, 27.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.23.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,485, and the median income for a family was $29,945. Males had a median income of $31,614 versus $22,714 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,816. About 24.7% of families and 28.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.2% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.

Saginaw is classified as a Home Rule City under the Michigan Home Rule Cities Act which permits cities to exercise "Home Rule" powers, among which is the power to frame and adopt its own City Charter which serves as the fundamental law of the city, in a manner similar to a Constitution for a national or state government. The present Charter was adopted in 1935 and took effect on January 6, 1936. Pursuant to the City Charter, Saginaw is governed by a nine member elected at-large Council. The term of office for a member of the City Council is four years commencing with the first meeting following a regular municipal election. The terms of Council members are staggered so that the entire Council is not subject to re-election at the same time; alternatively either four or five members are elected in each odd-numbered year.

[ see less ]