Gaylord

History

The town was unofficially called Barnes, after secretary of the Michigan Central Railroad and state representative Orlando Barnes, the town was settled in 1873 when the Jackson, Lansing, and Saginaw Railroads were extended north from Otsego Lake Village in the same year. All property north of Main Street was owned by the railroad. Barnes owned all of the property to the south. Main Street was the borderline for two townships. This put the northern half of the new community in Livingston Township and the southern portion in Bagley Township. The town then became known as the “Village of Gaylord” in 1874, thanks to Augustine Smith Gaylord who was a highly respected lawyer in the village. In the same year, Gaylord was also granted a post office of the same name. If the community was truly ever named Barnes, the name change would have occurred between November 1873 and October 1874. William F. Parmater, a township supervisor, was appointed to find a location for the town's court house in November 1877. Parmater and George Smith, a local store owner, were given land owned by Barnes and his wife to build the court house. Augustine Smith Gaylord, who is the namesake for the town, was an attorney associated with the Michigan Central Railroad. His law firm was located in Saginaw. Gaylord never lived in his namesake town, but he did own property in Hayes Township. His distinguished career included serving as a school teacher, church choir director, county clerk, and member of the State Legislature, Gaylord was appointed to serve as an attorney for the Department of the Interior in 1875. Gaylord became the county seat of Otsego County. Prior to 1877, Otsego Lake Village had been designated as the temporary county seat. Gaylord's central location in the county, along with its…

Geography

*According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. *Gaylord experiences heavy lake effect snow during the winter and is in the middle of the Northern Michigan snowbelt. *Highway signs denote that Gaylord rests on the 45th parallel line – halfway between the equator and the North Pole. This is one of 29 places (six are in Michigan) in the U.S. where such signs are known to exist. *It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan. *Hartwick Pines State Park is just to the south, and is one of the last remaining stands of old growth virgin Eastern white pine forest. *The Huron-Manistee National Forests is nearby. This climatic region has large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Gaylord has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,903
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,730
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,247
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,071
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,793
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,788
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,684
• Hairy Woodpecker

  Leuconotopicus villosus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,659

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2015-02-16
  5 km WNW of Alpena, Michigan