Township History
Brief Township History
Bangor Township was organized on March 22, 1859, becoming the third township of Bay County.
Bangor was organized in the same year as the townships of Arenac and Portsmouth. Bangor included present townships of Fraser, Kawkawlin and Monitor.
In 1868, the northern portion of Bangor was detached to form Kawkawlin Township.
In 1869, the southern portion of Bangor was detached to form Monitor Township. This consisted of the south 30 sections of township 14 north of range 4 east, and sections 30 and 31 of township 14 north of range 5 east.
Petitioners for the new township were John G. Kiesel, John Gies, Charles Nickel, Scott W. Sayles, Frederick Kiesler and Mathew Miller, of Hampton Township. The largest land holder in Bangor at the time was Joseph Trombley.
The first town meeting was held April 7, 1859, first appointed officials were: Supervisor: Scott W. Sayles, Election Inspectors: Scott W. Sayles, John Raymond, Frederick Kiesler.
The township name was chosen by Thomas Whitney who was from Bangor, Maine. He owned a mill on the east side of the river.
In 1877, Bangor lost a large portion of its territory to the newly chartered community of West Bay City which in 1905 became a part of Bay City. In the 1880s, Bangor had three coal mines in operation.
The historical population of the township was mostly near the Saginaw River, along and near Marquette Street which included a number of small merchant businesses.
1880 – 271 residents
1894 – 843 residents
1900 – 1,195 residents
2000 – 15,547 residents
2010 – 14,641 residents
2020 – 14,045 residents