Congratulations to Marysville! You are the WCSX City of The Week! Marysville is located on the St. Clair River. It’s considered part of “Michigan’s Thumbcoast.” The community sits directly across the river from Corunna, Canada. The entire west side of Marysville has an awesome scenic waterfront. The waterfront provides lots of spots where you can watch the ships sail up and down the river. Chrysler Beach of Marysville is one of the only sandy beaches on the St. Clair River. Marysville’s motto is “A nice place to visit, a better place to live.” City of the Week celebrates Marysville on their 100th Anniversary!
Marysville History
The modern-day history of Marysville goes back to 1786: Antoin Morass built a sawmill at Bunce Creek. Another key figure in Marysville history is Colonel Andrew Mack. Mack was a state representative. He was also a colonel in the War of 1812 and a co-founder of the Detroit Free Press. The area of the mill, Mack’s home, a general store, and post office created “Mack’s Place.” Colonel Andrew Mack is the Mack in Mack Avenue. Colonel Mack and his wife are buried on the grounds of the Marysville golf course.
Years later, Edward Vickery put down roots at the base of what is known today as Huron Boulevard in Marysville. Naming it “Vickery’s Landing,” the area around it eventually became known as Vicksburg. In 1854, the Mack’s Place post office was moved over to Vicksburg. Michigan already had a community named Vicksburg. Since two communities were not allowed to have the same name. the name was changed to Marysville, after Nelson Mill‘s wife Mary.
The 1920s saw the building of the Marysville Power Plant by Detroit Edison. The plant was nicknamed “The Mighty Marysville.” The plant was closed in 1997 and was imploded in 2015. Here’s video of the demolition:
Marysville Today
While Marysville has a lot of great waterfront property, there is no true “downtown.” Gratiot Boulevard and Michigan Avenue are home to most of Marysville’s dining and retail.
Marysville’s city park and the older neighborhoods are located along Huron Boulevard. This area, plus a piece around M-29 near Gratiot Boulevard, are known as the ‘Salt Block.’ The area was originally built to house workers of the Morton Salt Company.
This year’s Sunmmerfest In Marysville should be a great celebration! Not only is it their 100th Anniversary, but Marysville is having a drone show in place of fireworks this year! Summerfest is June 13-16th at Municipal Park. The festival offers a carnival midway, live music, food and more. On June 15th at 10:00pm, Starlight Aerial Productions Great Lakes Drone Company will launch a “Drone Show.” They claim the experience will “electrify all your senses through choreographed music and stunning shapes.” This is the same company that did some drone work of the Detroit Lions. Here’s a little sample:
Joel’s Notes
Did you know that Gratiot Avenue North ends in Marysville? It would be cool to cruise Gratiot all the way to Marysville sometime!
Marysville Park has an awesome Locomotive Train that you can play on! The train is a symbol of Marysville’s history as an industrial and rail transportation hub. I was surprised how much of the train I was able to access. First, I climbed up into the cab, then I checked out the boiler. I even walked out on that steel ledge that is right over the wheels. Finally, I checked out the train’s whistles. Gave me a case of Locomotive Breath! (Thank You, Jethro Tull!)
Marysville Cuisine
Do you like Corned Beef? OMG! I was at Lynwood Bar and they were preparing fresh home made corned beef for their signature “Viking Sandwich” with sauerkraut that smelled and looked incredible! One of the people working was a big 94.7 WCSX fan. She was really surprised that City of the Week would visit Lynwood Bar, but none of the friendly staff wanted to “Go on camera/ be ID’ed.“ No worries, the corn beef speaks for itself at the Lynwood Bar!
I think that the one of the most beautiful bars in Michigan must be at The Junction Buoy! Wow! The view from this bar is spectacular! The entire side of the building and behind the bar facing the St. Clair River has giant windows. The way the river bends, you can see all the way into Port Huron and pretty far South down the river too. I had an excellent bowl of steaming hot clam chowder that hit the spot as I watched flocks of Canadian Geese (They are from just over the river, right? Haha!) and Mallard Ducks fly and swim up and down the river. Mr. Art at the table behind me recommended that I stop at Yum Yums for a sweet taste of Marysville!
Making Marysville Extra Yummy
I am very glad that Art suggested Yum Yums to me! Yum Yums is a bakery / lunch spot (think sandwiches, soups, salads) in the Market Square shopping plaza on Gratiot Blvd. Yum Yums owner Antoinette and her crewmembers Tracy & Brianna were the highlight of my visit to Marysville! Right off the bat, we bonded over a few lines of Tracy’s favorite Bon Jovi song, “Dead or Alive.” A few moments later, we were belting out, “I’m a cowboy… on a steel horse I ride”” together and then laughed pretty hard at our bad rendition! They offered me a Red Velvet cupcake that was as pretty as it was sweet and fluffy THANK YOU! Yum Yums’ customer, Mark, gave props to Antoinette and her crew for having such a friendly place to enjoy lunch in such a bright spot!
Marysville City of the Week Photos
