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Colleges Community Information Exploring our Heritage through our Ancestors
Local HistoryNamed after its county, which is located in the middle of the state, this was one of a few northern counties that were not named by Henry Schoolcraft. The first white man to visit the region was Father Henry Nouvel, who left from St. Ignace, traveled down Lake Huron into the Saginaw River, and up the Tittabawassee River to a mission the Indians called Bamosey. The first white settler at the village of Midland was John Whitman, who made a clearing for his farm in 1836. John Larkin pioneered the development of the village, which began with lumbering them from the brine and salt works of Herbert Dow (now the Dow Chemical Company). In the 18th century, the abundance of natural resources attracted settlers of European descent. Especially valuable to the hunters and traders from across the Atlantic were the plentiful animal skins. Beginning about 1836, lumber, minerals and farm products formed the basis of the area economy. The continued influx of new settlers led to the organization of Midland County in 1850, followed by the city of Midland in 1856. The salt deposits in the Midland area contain, among other things, bromine and by 1888 Midland had become one of the world's largest bromine producers. In 1890, the young chemist, Herbert Henry Dow arrived in Midland to test a new process he had developed for extracting bromine from the salt brines. The method was a success and led to the incorporation of The Dow Chemical Company in 1897. Dow Chemical went on to develop more than 400 other products that could be extracted from the brines. The company's diversity and ingenuity carried the Midland community through the demise of the lumber industry and contributed to its success through the 20th century and into a prosperous 21st century.
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