It eventually merged into a picturesque riverfront city of historic homes and shops. It is a city loaded with historical items related to Native Americans, lumbering, ship building, archaeology, agriculture, commerce and highlighted with historical architecture from 1830 to 1940. It has the Saginaw River traveling directly through the center of the city, with riverside parks and walkways. During the shipping season you can frequently see large great lake freighters and pleasure boats traveling on this river. It is situated near the mouth of the Saginaw River, which joins the Saginaw Bay downstream and hence Lake Huron and the Great Lakes Waterway.
Bay City is now an important center of tourism, with an abundance of activities and events.
More than 160 years have elapsed since Leon Trombley accepted a federal government assignment and built a small log house on the bank of the Saginaw River. However, Leon made at least one mistake. He turned down an offer to trade a horse for a section of land, which he considered an uninhabitable swamp. Who would have thought that Bay City would some day encompass all of the section offered to Mr. Trombley. In 1835, Trombley's nephews Joseph and Mader built the first frame house in Bay City, which also served as a trading post, thereby qualifying the Trombleys as Bay City's first businessmen.