Tawas City was founded in 1854 as the first city to be located on the shores of Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron North of Bay city. Tawas City celebrated its centennial in June of 1954 with appropriate ceremonies to commemorate its founding. Tawas City was established as the county seat of Iosco County and the first post office was established on January 6, 1856, with James O. Whittemore appointed Postmaster.

Photo Courtesy of Neil Thorton

Since Tawas City's founding, the community's economy has been a major factor influencing land use and development partterns in the city. The rich natural resource base of the area (forest lands, Lake Huron, wildlife) combined with the protection offered by Tawas Bay provided the basis for the original founding of the city and caused the lumber industry to flourish. Tawas Bay continues to serve as a harbor of refuge that large freighter use to excape the adverse effects of storms on Lake Huron. The shoreline, as the transition zone between land and water, became the focus of the community with the city developing in a linear fashion along the bayshore.

Statements often made that "Tawas" is a contraction of the word "Ottawas" and that the Ottawa Indians once inhabited this region, are false. The Indians, who, in early days, camped along the shore of Tawas Bay, and near the mouth of Tawas River, were a tribe from the Saginaw band of Chippewas. Their leader was Chief O-ta-was. What we know as Tawas Bay, was in reality O-ta-was' Bay, for on its shore the old chief had his camp. Early map makers dropped in an extra "t" as can be easily verified; then later map makers dropped off the "s" for the name of the point of land that divided the bay from Lake Huron was known as Ottawa Point until comparatively recent spelling and pronunciation for the name of our earliest residents, have given us the name Tawas.

The Whittemores gave the name Tawas City to the town they founded in 1854. Eight years later when the lumbering firm of Smith, Van Valkenburg and Company built a mill on the bay shore a mile or so east of the Whittemore mill and holding, and a community spring up around this latter mill, the cluster of homes was, by common consent, named East Tawas, for many years residents of both towns, and the farming community surrounding, often referred to Tawas City as "old town" and to East Tawas as "east town".

Historical information provided by Neil Thornton.