Editing Imlay City, Michigan (section)

==History==
In 1836, Connecticut businessman William H. Imlay began purchases areas of the forest here, and when the township was organized in 1850, it was named after him.  In 1870, the Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad began building rail lines through the area, and chief engineer Charles Palmer purchased land in order to build a market and hotel.  A post office began operating here on December 12, 1870 with Edward Palmer serving as the first postmaster.  The community grew quickly to include 15 stores, a grain elevator, and several mills.  In 1871, the community incorporated as a village named Imlay City.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Walter |last1=Romig |title=Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities  |type=Paperback  |orig-date= 1973 |date=October 1, 1986 |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-8143-1838-6 |location=Detroit, Michigan| pages=281–282}}</ref>

In 1914, the city started building streetcar lines—a form of public transportation that was usually reserved for large cities. In April 1970, Imlay City celebrated its 100th birthday, and the residents voted to change Imlay City from a village to a home rule city by a two to one margin.<ref name="imlaycity.org">"Imlay City History," http://www.imlaycity.org/1/65/history.asp</ref> The construction of [[Interstate 69]] in the 1980s connected Imlay City with Flint, Port Huron, and Canada, leading to significant economic growth to serve the interstate travelers.