Owosso

History

Alfred L. and Benjamin O. Williams were early European-American settlers in the area. They were joined by Elias Comstock, who built the first permanent home in the settlement. Dr. John B. Barnes, a physician and a judge, and Sophronia King Barnes moved to Owosso in 1842. They lived on Oliver and Water streets where they operated an Underground Railroad waystation, where they provided aid and shelter for enslaved African Americans. Owosso was incorporated as a city in 1859, at which time it had 1,000 people. The city's first mayor was Amos Gould, a judge originally from New York. Many other settlers also migrated across the Northern Tier from New York and New England. In 1876, the city organized its fire department. The pattern of settlement and migration resulted in a majority-white city. In the 1950s, Owosso was reported by a major Montgomery, Alabama, newspaper to be a sundown town, where African Americans were not allowed to live or stay overnight.

Geography

The city is on the Shiawassee River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (2.60%) is water. Owosso experiences frigid winters, with the last snow usually falling in April, typically Northern Midwestern spring thaws, balmy to hot summers, and colorful falls, with the first snows usually occurring sometimes in December but typically in January. Each year Owosso averages eleven days with temperatures below , and nine days with temperatures above . Owosso averages twenty-nine inches of rain per year, and forty-one inches of snow. The average growing season in Owosso is 144 days.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Owosso High School
  High · OWOSSO · 843 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• Corunna High School
  High · CORUNNA · 666 students · 21.5:1 ratio
• Owosso Middle School
  Middle · OWOSSO · 643 students · 20.1:1 ratio
• Corunna Middle School
  Middle · CORUNNA · 452 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• Emerson School
  Elementary · OWOSSO · 452 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Bryant School
  Elementary · OWOSSO · 449 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Central School
  Elementary · OWOSSO · 423 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• Elsa Meyer Elementary School
  Elementary · CORUNNA · 337 students · 15.3:1 ratio