Inscription
One of the first attempts in America to produce beet sugar was made in Michigan at White Pigeon late in the 1830s. The venture did not succeed though future governor John Barry went to Europe seeking to learn its production methods. In 1888 Dr. Robert C. Kedzie of Michigan Agricultural College began encouraging farmers in the state to grow sugar beets.
At Bay City in 1898 the state's first successful factory opened. Thereafter the Saginaw Valley became the sugar bowl of Michigan.
Location
Sources
More markers in Bay
Midland Street Commercial District
Bay City, MI
The Midland Street Commercial District comprises fifty buildings in a four-block area that was the business hub of West Bay City.
Bay City Boating and Fishing Club
Essexville, MI
In 1894 William Jennison, a yachtsman for fifty years, founded the Bay City Boating and Fishing Club.
Trinity Church
Bay City, MI
Trinity Church grew from a small group of settlers served by Episcopal missionaries beginning around 1842.
Ogaukawning Church
Bay City, MI
Established in 1847, the Ogaukawning Indian Mission, the first church in present-day Bay County, served Chippewa Indians at the nearby...
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Bay City, MI
St. Joseph was the first Catholic parish in the Saginaw Valley when it was founded in 1850-51 by missionary Joseph Kindekens.
