Every city, or town has that "rich" neighborhood in it. The houses are a little bigger, the yards and roads are a little better manicured... but not all of those neighborhoods aren't as incredibly historic as the Bay City Center Avenue Historic District.

Bay City is the Lumber Capital of the World, and MANY lumber tycoons and industrial titans made their homes there. This resulted in blocks of historic mansions, many of which are now more than 100 years old, and SOME are even 150 years old, and STILL being lived in.

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C&C Fritz Photography
C&C Fritz Photography
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Our friends with C&C Fritz Photography provided a collection of so many of these homes. Their description of the gallery of photos paints a good picture of what you'd expect to see in the Center Avenue Historic District.

"The District... has an impressive collection of structures, many of them the late 1800's mansions of lumber barons, ship builders, and industrialists. The district has a wide array of styles."

C&C Fritz Photography also provided information about each of the homes, and who originally built them, like the "Henry Clements House," built in 1890. The owner, Mr. Clements, was co-owner of Bay City Industrial Works, which helped produce steam shovels and cranes along the Saginaw River.

C&C Fritz Photography
C&C Fritz Photography
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This home was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property of the center avenue Historic District in 1982.

Even if you know you'd never be able to afford a home like these, it's still very beautiful architecture that has managed to be well maintained, and contains a snapshot into the past, as to what life was once like in the Lumber Capital of the World.

You can see just a few of the impressive homes in the gallery below, and visit C&C Fritz Photography's page to see even more homes they've photographed around Michigan.

See the Sprawling Bay City Historical Neighborhood Full Of Century-Old Mansions

Bay City’s beginnings as the “Lumber Capital of the World” set the stage for a heritage that continues to live on through The Center Avenue Historic District. The District (Roughly bounded by Green and N. Madison Avenues, 5th and 6th Streets) has an impressive collection of structures, many of them the late 1800’s mansions of lumber barons, ship builders and industrialists. The district has a wide array of styles including Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Richardson Romanesque, Tudor Revival, Georgian Revival, Arts & Crafts and Stick styles. We invite you to stroll the district and learn more about the characters who built their homes here and the distinctive history and heritage they created in Bay City! Added to the National Register of Historic Places on 22 April 1982 and Designated a Michigan State Historic Site in Bay County on 14 December 1976.

All Photos Courtesy of C&C Fritz Photography