Editing Grand Blanc, Michigan (section)

==History==
The unincorporated village of Grand Blanc, or Grumlaw, was a former Indian campground first settled by Jacob Stevens in spring 1822. Several years later, settlers improved the Indian trail to Saginaw; they laid out and staked it in 1829 as Saginaw Road.<ref name=hgc>{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Edwin O.|title=History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions|date=1916|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mi/county/lapeer/gen/ch26/pt1.html|access-date=April 11, 2014|chapter=XXVI: Villages of Genesee County, Part I|publisher=US GenNet|archive-date=April 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413131141/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mi/county/lapeer/gen/ch26/pt1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Grand Blanc Township, Michigan|Grand Blanc Township]] was formed in 1833 with area that would become the city.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wood| first = Edwin O.| title = History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions| publisher = Michigan Historical Commission| year = 1916| url = http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mi/county/lapeer/gen/ch5/pio.html| access-date = 2020-03-13| archive-date = 2006-10-06| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061006120254/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mi/county/lapeer/gen/ch5/pio.html| url-status = live}}</ref>  The township center began to boom in 1864 with the arrival of the railroad (now known as the [[CSX Saginaw Subdivision]]).<ref name=mpn>{{cite book |last1=Romig |first1=Walter |title=Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities |date=1986 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=9780814318386 |pages=231–232 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-FPXEGRo-YC&q=Grand+Blanc&pg=PA222 |access-date=February 12, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=January 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120001932/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-FPXEGRo-YC&q=Grand+Blanc&pg=PA222#v=snippet&q=Grand%20Blanc&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> With the post office there, the village was called Grand Blanc Centre by 1873, with the former Grand Blanc assuming the name Gibsonville (not Gibbonsville.)<ref>[http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/21299/Grand+Blanc+Centre++Gibsonville/Genesee+County+1873/Michigan/ Grand Blanc Centre, Gibsonville] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416000544/http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/21299/Grand%2BBlanc%2BCentre%2B%2BGibsonville/Genesee%2BCounty%2B1873/Michigan/ |date=2019-04-16 }} Map. Page 95. Genesee County 1873. Beers and Co.</ref>

By 1916, the community (population 400) had a grade school, a private bank, flour mill, an elevator, a creamery, and two churches, the Methodist Episcopal and the Congregational. The community was equipped with electrical lighting.<ref name=hgc/>

On January 1, 2024, the winning ticket for the first [[Powerball]] lottery of the new year was sold at Food Castle, a food and liquor store in Grand Blanc. The $842.4 million jackpot represented the [[Lottery jackpot records|fifth-largest]] in Powerball history and the tenth-largest jackpot ever in U.S. lottery history at the time of the drawing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murdoch |first=Robin |date=2024-01-02 |title=Winning Powerball jackpot ticket worth $842 million sold at Michigan food store |url=https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/winning-powerball-jackpot-ticket-worth-824-million-sold-at-michigan-food-store |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=FOX 2 Detroit |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102121932/https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/winning-powerball-jackpot-ticket-worth-824-million-sold-at-michigan-food-store |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the early morning hours of February 28, 2024, an EF2 tornado touched down with winds reaching 115&nbsp;mph, and a peak width of around 450 yards. The tornado started near Creasy Bicentennial Park damaging trees and outbuildings before reaching the Waretech Industrial Park at the intersection of Dort Highway and Reid Road. The warehouse was completely destroyed among other businesses and houses that received structural damage within the Indian Hill neighborhood region and Saginaw Road.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56lVN4Iu06E | title=Grand Blanc, MI. EF2 Tornado: Drone Video of Industrial Building Damage #tornadodamage | website=[[YouTube]] | date=March 3, 2024 }}</ref> 
The tornado lifted over Perry Road and had a total path length of 5.7 miles. This was the strongest tornado to ever strike Grand Blanc, and extremely rare given the nighttime strike as well as the February occurrence.

===City===
Grand Blanc Centre incorporated as the City of Grand Blanc in 1930.<ref name=mpn/> In 1939, the township and the city started a joint fire department.<ref name=fj1>{{cite news |last1=Acosta |first1=Roberto |title=Grand Blanc Township ponders 'divorce' from city over fire services |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/02/grand-blanc-township-ponders-divorce-from-city-over-fire-services.html |access-date=February 12, 2019 |work=Flint Journal |publisher=MLive Media Group |date=February 5, 2019 |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213123731/https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/02/grand-blanc-township-ponders-divorce-from-city-over-fire-services.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1970s, the Grand Blanc city, township and school district formed a joint parks and recreation department under a commission with 2 members from each entity.<ref name="fj2">{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Emilly |title=Grand Blanc township and city splitting up again -- this time parks and rec department |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/02/grand-blanc-township-and-city-splitting-up-again-this-time-parks-and-rec-department.html |access-date=March 13, 2020 |work=Flint Journal |publisher=Mlive Media Group |date=February 18, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=February 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227234319/https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/02/grand-blanc-township-and-city-splitting-up-again-this-time-parks-and-rec-department.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1973, [[Grand Blanc-McFarlen Library]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand Blanc-McFarlen Library |url=https://www.thegdl.org/grand-blanc-mcfarlen/ |publisher=Genesee District Library |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=22 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122171936/https://www.thegdl.org/grand-blanc-mcfarlen/ |url-status=live }}</ref> was built featuring approximately 45,000 books and offering a host of other materials. 
 
A [[ballot]] question in the May 2, 2006 Genesee County general election ended governmental research into a plan to consolidate the city and township governments; 68.62% of city voters opposed consolidation efforts whereas 31.38% were in favor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Summary Report {{!}} Regular Election {{!}} Official Results |url=http://www.co.genesee.mi.us/clerk/images/election%20results/052006/summary.htm |publisher=Genesee County Clerk's Office |access-date=7 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192513/http://www.co.genesee.mi.us/clerk/images/election%20results/052006/summary.htm |archive-date=2 January 2014 }}</ref>

On January 20, 2019, the Township Board voted to rescind its joint fire department agreement in 90 days unless a new agreement is reached.<ref name=fj1/> After eight decades of a shared fire department with Grand Blanc Township, the city decided to start up their own department starting July 25, 2019, and named a fire chief. Previously, the joint department was funded by each municipal levying a special levy of 0.5 mil for the department and designating 0.5 mil of general levy to the department.<ref name="fj0">{{cite news |last1=Acosta |first1=Roberto |title=City of Grand Blanc to start own fire department |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/04/city-of-grand-blanc-to-start-own-fire-department.html |access-date=April 15, 2019 |work=Flint Journal |publisher=Mlive Media Group |date=April 11, 2019 |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416000546/https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/04/city-of-grand-blanc-to-start-own-fire-department.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

After looking at the lack of management knowledge on the parks and recreation commission in the spring of 2019, the township and city decided to dissolve the commission. The decision was formalized in January 2020, with the township taking over the department to provide services to both municipalities. The city would go on to develop its own parks plan before starting its own department.<ref name="fj2" />