Utica Factoids – CSX City of the Week

Congratulations to Utica,

You're the WCSX City of the Week

• Legend has it that in the early 1800s, a few hunters and trappers killed a wild boar, ate it, and declared the area to be called Hog’s Hollow. Hog’s Hollow stuck, and became a popular nickname in the town for many years.

• The first industry in Utica, aside from farming, was the manufacture of pickets by William ("Picket") Smith, who became the first postmaster.

• Utica was founded in 1817, land cost $1.25 an acre, and was composed of wetlands, and swamps much like all of South-Eastern Michigan.

• The city now known as Utica was platted by Joseph Stead in 1829, who preferred to call it "Harlow." Others referred to the city as "Hog's Hollow" or "McDougalville," until a few years later it was finally named Utica by settlers from New York, after the city of the same name.