Grand Trunk Railroad Depot / Imlay City

The Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad, later the Grand Trunk Western, arrived here in 1870. The first depot burned in 1917, and makeshift quarters served for a decade. This depot was built in 1927, according to Grand Trunk’s specifications. In 1930 an addition was built on the west end of the depot. The Grand Trunk abandoned the depot in 1971 and sold it to the city for use as the Imlay City Historical Museum. Imlay City Connecticut capitalist William H. Imlay began buying Michigan pinelands in 1836. In 1850 newly organized Imlay Township was named for him. The Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railroad cut through Imlay’s forests and arrived in July 1870. The railroad’s chief engineer, Charles Palmer, purchased 240 acres of land, which he platted as Imlay City less than a week later. Within eighteen months the town had 500 residents, a schoolhouse, two hotels, nearly 20 stores, and an additional 100 buildings.