Sanford

History

In 1864, Charles Sanford of Madison County, New York, purchased of land where the village is now located, along with of pine land. The site was first known as the "Salt-Spring Reserve", and was the location of the first salt well in the state. Douglass Houghton, the state surveyor and geologist, supervised sinking the shaft of the well. Charles Sanford moved there in May 1864. He platted the village in 1870. Romig identifies Jay F. Hamilton as the first postmaster of "Sanfordville" on June 23, 1871, while the Portrait and biographical album of Midland county, Mich. lists Phineas Hamilton as the first postmaster. The name was shortened to "Sanford" on July 13, 1871. Also in 1871, the Pere Marquette Railroad built a station in Sanford. In 1963, residents of Sanford voted to incorporate as a village. In 1982, Sanford voters approved the repeal of its incorporation, but a Michigan court overturned the election results on the grounds that it should have been presented as one proposal instead of two. On May 19, 2020, the Sanford Dam and Edenville Dam on the Tittabawassee River collapsed, forcing the evacuation of the village and largely destroying its downtown.

Geography

Sanford is in central Midland County, on the eastern side of Jerome Township. It is northwest of Midland, the county seat, and southeast of Coleman. U.S. Route 10, a four-lane freeway, passes through the north side of the village, connecting Midland and Coleman. M-30 (Michigan highway) runs along the eastern edge of the village, leading south to Merrill and north to West Branch. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village of Sanford has a total area of , of which are land and , or 17.8%, are water. The village sits along the Tittabawassee River at what until 2020 was the south end of Sanford Lake, an impoundment on the river.

Race & ethnicity