Ferrysburg: the town the Ferry sons platted at the river's mouth

Ferrysburg’s name is a family name, and the city’s own timeline shows how firmly that family was planted on the north side of the Grand River. William M. Ferry Jr. built a sawmill there in 1849. By 1855 he had finished a home, and Ferry & Chandler had opened the Ottawa Iron Works to make steam engines and lumbering machinery.

On January 26, 1857, William M. Ferry Jr. and his brother Thomas White Ferry platted the Village of Ferrysburg. Even the spelling took a little time to settle. Early records used Ferrysburgh, Ferrisburg, and Ferrysburg. When the first post office opened in 1859, it used Ferrysburg, and that is the version that stayed.

Thomas White Ferry’s career soon reached far beyond the new village. The U.S. House historian records that he served in Michigan’s state House and Senate, then represented Michigan in the U.S. House from 1865 to 1871 and the U.S. Senate from 1871 to 1883. He also served as president pro tempore of the Senate and presided during the disputed Hayes-Tilden electoral count.

The village grew around industry and transportation. The railroad arrived in 1869 to serve local shops and sawmills and carry passengers north. Ferrysburg later incorporated as a city in 1963.

The useful part of the name story is concrete: two brothers drew the village map, three spellings competed, and the post office made one of them official. Ferrysburg still carries the Ferry family right on the sign.