Who really Started Traverse City?
Albert T. Lay named the settlement “Traverse” when he established a postal route in 1853. The “City” suffix was added later.
Though earlier histories credited Harry Boardman and son with establishing a sawmill here in 1847, they did not stay long — whereas Lay and his partner Perry Hannah built the community’s first lasting economic base.
Hannah stayed in the region for decades, helping bring institutions like the Carnegie Library and the county asylum to Traverse City. Grand Traverse Journal
