Bay City’s Sage Library Celebrates 140th Anniversary

The Sage Library at 100 East Midland Street in Bay City has a birthday this year with a celebration planned for Wednesday, January 17.

The library was founded by Henry Sage 140 years ago. Sage was a lumber baron from Ithaca, New York, who owned one of the largest sawmills in mid-Michigan. The Sage Library is listed on both the state and national registers of historic sites. The library had been the oldest continuously operated library in the state of Michigan until 2006, when voters rejected a 1.2 mill tax to fund the library system, which closed down the Sage branch. It reopened after a millage was overwhelmingly approved in 2007.

The celebration will take place from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. with cake, refreshments and guided tours of the building. Visit