BAY CITY, MI- We’ve got some interesting trivia for you today! Here at
Hank Graff Chevrolet Bay City, we always love to learn fun and obscure facts
about our local Michigan towns. This week we decided to read up on the history
of Clio, one of the many cool cities near our Chevrolet dealership. Check out
these five fun facts about Clio, MI,
and learn something new about this great Michigan town.
- Clio, MI was named after the Greek Goddess Clio, muse of history and poetry, at the whim of a local hotelier and fan of classical literature, Colonel Hill.
- Clio was originally known as “Varney,” after the town’s first grain buyer.
- The first major structure in Clio, MI was a sawmill on North Mill Street, built in 1837. From there, the City of Clio started growing.
- Clio (Varney at the time) expanded rapidly following the completion of the Flint and Pere Marquette Railway in 1861. The rail line still runs through Clio, but is now for freight trains rather than passenger trains.
- Nowadays you can buy exotic fruits at your local supermarket anytime of year, but this wasn’t always the case. In the 1800s, Clio, MI was the place to come for exotic fruits like bananas, thanks to an entrepreneur named Robin Jones, who imported them.
