A railroad town and the Eastern Michigan State Fair

Imlay City owes its existence to the railroad. The area was first settled at a crossroads called Blacks Corners, but when the Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railway pushed through in 1870, the railroad’s chief engineer picked this spot for a depot and produce market, and the new town quickly outgrew its older neighbor. (It’s named for William Imlay, a Connecticut businessman who had bought up local land years earlier but never really lived here.) For decades the trains were the town’s lifeline, hauling farm goods out and bringing mail, news, and visitors in — by 1914 Imlay City even had its own streetcar line. The old depot still stands as the town’s historical museum.

Imlay City is also fair country. An agricultural society held its first fair here in 1896, and it grew into a huge fall event — in the early days, special trolleys ran out from Detroit packed with fairgoers. Today it’s the Eastern Michigan State Fair, still held each year at the fairgrounds in town, with livestock, rides, racing, and grandstand shows.