Marysville changed its name because Michigan had a Vicksburg

Marysville did not begin with its current name. Michigan’s official tourism history says Edward P. Vickery settled at what is now the foot of Huron Boulevard and called his operation Vickery’s Landing. The community around it became known as Vicksburg.

There was already another Vicksburg in Michigan, so the river settlement changed names in 1859. It chose Marysville for Mary, the wife of local entrepreneur Nelson Mills. That is the concise version supported by the state account; it does not explain who proposed the name or preserve much about Mary herself.

The sequence is the useful part: Vickery’s Landing, then Vicksburg, then Marysville. A duplicate place name forced the final change, and one woman’s first name has stayed on the map ever since.