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==History== {{See also|History of Northern Michigan}} Tawas City was founded in 1854 as the first city to be located on the shores of Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron north of [[Bay City, Michigan]]. Tawas City was designated as the county seat of Iosco County, and the first post office was established Jan. 6, 1856, with James O. Whittemore appointed postmaster. Since Tawas City's founding, the community's economy has been a major factor influencing land use and development patterns. The rich natural resource base of the area: forest lands, [[Lake Huron]] and wildlife, combined with the protection offered by '''Tawas Bay'''<!-- bolded per [[WP:MOSBOLD]] as a redirect -->, inspired the founding of the city and provided resources to support a lumber industry. The shoreline, as the transition zone between land and water, became the focus of the community, with the city developing in a linear fashion along the bayshore.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Tawas Bay continues to serve as a harbor of refuge, used by large freighters to escape severe storms on Lake Huron. Statements that “Tawas” is derived from the word “Ottawas” and that the Ottawa Indians once inhabited this region are false. The local Indians had made camps along the shore of the bay and near the mouth of the river. They were a band from the [[Saginaw, Michigan]] tribe of [[Chippewa]] (also known as [[Ojibwa]]). Their leader was Chief O-ta-was. As he had his camp on the shores of the bay, it was known as O-ta-was's Bay. Early map makers dropped in an extra “t"; later map makers dropped off the “s.” The name of the point dividing the bay from Lake Huron was known as Ottawa Point. Comparatively recent <!-- timing? -->spelling and pronunciation for the name of these Chippewa gradually evolved to ''Tawas''.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} The Whittemores named the community they founded as Tawas City.<!-- This seems to conflict with etymology account above, suggesting the name evolved for a long time --> Eight years later, the lumbering firm of Smith, Van Valkenburg and Company built a mill on the bay shore a mile or so east of the Whittemore mill and holding. When a community developed around this latter mill, the cluster of homes was, by common consent, named East Tawas. For many years, residents of both towns and the surrounding farming community often referred to Tawas City as “old town” and to East Tawas as “east town.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tawascity.org/community/history|title=The City of Tawas City Was Founded in 1854|author=Alan Garcia|work=tawascity.org}}</ref>
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