Editing Freeland, Michigan (section)

==History==
The place was home to [[Native American in the United States|Native American]]s long before the arrival of European settlers. In the 1819 [[Treaty of Saginaw]], in which the [[Ojibwa|Chippewa]], [[Ottawa (tribe)|Ottawa]], and [[Pottawatomi]] ceded a large portion of land including Saginaw County to the United States federal government. In that treaty, within the ceded territory, several tracts were reserved for specific  groups of Chippewa. One such tract, Black Bird's Village, consisted of {{convert|6,000|acre|km2}} on the Tittabawassee (named as the Tetabawasink river in the text of the treaty), very near to the present location of Freeland.<ref>Mills, James Cooke. ''History of Saginaw County''.  Saginaw, Michigan: Seemann & Peters, 1918. [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;q1=Freeland;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAD1040.0001.001;didno=BAD1040.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000038  p. 12], [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;q1=Freeland;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAD1040.0001.001;didno=BAD1040.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000043 17], [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;q1=Freeland;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAD1040.0002.001;didno=BAD1040.0002.001;view=image;seq=00000399 381] to 385.</ref>
<ref name="Romig">{{cite book | last = Romig | first = Walter  | year = 1986 | title = Michigan Place Names | orig-year= 1973 | publisher = Wayne State University Press | location = Detroit, Michigan | isbn = 0-8143-1838-X}}</ref>
<ref>Moore, Charles. ''History of Michigan''. Chicago, : The Lewis publishing company, 1915. p. [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;q1=Freeland;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAC8762.0002.001;didno=BAC8762.0002.001;view=image;seq=00000331 907]</ref>

In the 1850s, lumbering outposts developed in the area, one of which was called "Loretta", which was given a post office named "Jay" in April 1856. The office was named for the first postmaster, Jefferson Jaqruth. This outpost was very nearly at the geographical center of Tittawabasse Township. Another settlement was placed just a little to the north. in 1867, one resident of the second locale, George Truesdale, instigated moving the post office from Loretta to his settlement, which retained the name of Jay for several years afterwards.

The name of Freeland comes from "Mammy Freeland" who operated a popular tavern on the river, frequented by lumbermen and rivermen, who came to refer to the entire settlement as Freeland. The name of the post office was changed to Freeland in January 1879. It was also a station on the [[Pere Marquette Railroad]]. By another account (Moore), the Freeland family name was prominent in business and politics of the area.

During World War II, the airport now known as MBS international was used to hold German and Japanese prisoners of war.

In 1985, Freeland's Lions Clubs International chapter began the annual [[Freeland Walleye Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=News |first=Deborah Brown {{!}} The Saginaw |date=2010-04-18 |title=Freeland prepares for annual Walleye Festival |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/2010/04/freeland_prepares_for_annual_w.html |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=mlive |language=en}}</ref>