Saranac grew where Lake Creek meets the Grand River

Saranac was settled in 1836 where Lake Creek meets the Grand River. The location offered fertile soil, water power from the creek, and a river then navigable to Grand Rapids. Those advantages gave the settlement a reason to exist before a railroad reached it.

An 1881 county history says the village was called Boston before residents requested a return to the earlier name Saranac in 1859. The surrounding township kept the Boston name. That source attributes the change partly to mail confusion with Boston, Massachusetts, and partly to residents simply preferring Saranac.

The Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad arrived in 1857 and made Saranac a shipping center. Flour, lumber, hides, barrels, and other local goods moved through town. As the surrounding forest was cut, manufacturing declined and agriculture became the dominant industry. Water chose the site; rail widened its market.