Michigan’s Youngest City at Just 25 Years Old

To be honest, I've never given much thought to the age of established towns in the state of Michigan.

But, recently, I saw a post with an article from 2016 detailing the 5 oldest towns in the state of Michigan. So, it made me wonder...what about the youngest town? Finding this information was a lot harder than I anticipated but, after several searches, I think I've figured it out.

Before we dive in, there are a few different ways to classify a city or town. According to legislature.mi.gov, there are Fourth Class Cities and Home Rule Cities.

From what I understand, a Fourth Class City, within the state of Michigan, has a population that does not exceed 10,000. While a Home Rule City has a population that exceeds 150,000. Again, that's as far as I, a non-lawyer or government official, can understand.

With that in mind, an article from Michigan Municipal League claims that Brown City is the youngest city in Michigan thanks to its change from a Fourth Class City to a Home Rule City in 1998.

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Brown City, MI

You can find Brown City nestled in the middle of Michigan's thumb. It's a small town with a population of just under 2,000 people according to a 2020 census.

Interestingly, under its welcome sign, Brown City claims to be the birthplace of the motor home. After a bit of research, it's not the actual car that was invented in Brown City, but the term motor home was coined by a man named Ray Frank in 1958.

While people had been using RVs for decades prior to 1958, they were often referred to as "house cars" or RVs. According to tincantourist.com, Frank, who owned a small trailer manufacturing company in Brown City (which was not considered a Home Rule City at the time), created a custom "house car" but, instead, began calling it his motor home. Thus, the term was invented.

Brown City might be a small town, but they seem to have some fun events. Like, when the local library decided to create an igloo out of recycled milk jugs:

They might not have any major tourist attractions but, should you be driving through, feel free to visit Michigan's youngest city: Brown City. Check out more of their local events by following them on Facebook.

Now that we've covered Michigan's youngest city, let's have a look at those Michigan cities with some questionable names. There's more than you think: