Rocky's 2nd Page
My Home:
This page is all about my home town of
Bangor, Michigan. Not many
people have heard of Bangor because it
is such a small town. Any time I have to tell people where I am
from I have to describe that it is between Kalamazoo and South Haven
and then most people will know what I am talking about.
HISTORY OF BANGOR
Mr. Charles U. Cross first came to Bangor from
Madison County, New York in 1834. Within a year, 1835, he built his
first home on the site that is now West Michigan Savings Bank. Others
joined him as the lands offered good farming and the river made
lumbering easy. 18 years later, 1853, the area still had less than 100
residents. Not that it is part of the history but my Mom now
works at the West Michigan Savings bank.
The town wasn't always known as Bangor and I will
talk about how it got the name.
5-Day
Marion - Bangor Begins
The Van Buren County Board of supervisors
organized the area as the first township in the county. October 9,
1853, the Van Buren County Board of Supervisors voted to organize the
township and give it the name of Marion. The name was so unpopular with
local residents that the board of supervisors voted 5 day later,
October 14, 1853, to call the township Bangor. The name Bangor was
chosen because a member of the board of supervisors had been a resident
of Bangor, Maine. Residents liked the suggestion. A resolution authored
by a Mr. Hurlbut was approved and the five-day existence of Marion
ended as Bangor began its own history. Joseph P. Nyman registered
the first plat of the town area on November 12, 1860. In 1861, he built
his residence on the north side of the Black River. It was the first
residence on the north side of the river. Charles U. Cross
recorded the second plat on July 11, 1867. A little less than ten
years later, the area became incorporated as the Village of Bangor. The
date was March 21, 1877. On April 16, 1877, the Village elected its
first Village Council. For the next 91 years, Bangor remained a
Village. Then on February 5, 1968, the Village officially became a City.
The
Bangor public schools have a modo, and that modo is "Providing
Educational Excellence as a Pathway to Success". The schools are
fairly small with the High School averaging about 400-450 students a
year. Its not too small but yet small enough to where everybody
knows everybody else. That makes for a friendly atmosphere most
of the time.
Bangor
Athletics
The Bangor athletic teams are known as the
Bangor Vikings. We are not the most "storied" program around but
we do alright. We provide varsity teams in Football, Basketball,
Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, Track, Cross Country, Wrestling, and
for the first time this
year, Golf. We have had a couple professional athletes come out
of Bangor including Pete Gent who is probably more famous for writing
"North Dallas Forty".
The viking is the logo of my high
school.
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