Clyde Township was established in 1836, and this unsettled area was referred to as Fairfield until sawmill owner John Beard opened a post office here along the Black River on September 30, 1854. He served as the first postmaster of the new community. The origins of the name Ruby are unknown but may have been chosen by Beard after the Michigan steamship of the same name.
Passages that mention Ruby, cut from the printed page as they were published.
St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people1912 · page 236Read the page →
Read the text
north to south, with Mill creek emptying into it from the west. It contains two old unincorporated villages. Abbottsford. upon IMill creek, established at the site of the Abbott mill in section 17. and taking its name from the mill owner, and Ruby, upon Black river, laid out by the Beards and named from the steamboat Ruby which was built in 1851 and ran from Port Huron to Detroit.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people1912 · page 253Read the page →
Read the text
In addition, there are a number of platted unincorporated villages or settlements, Adair, Avoca, Abbottsford, Brockway, Fargo, Lakeport, Marysville, Ruby, Smith's Creek. In 1836 Milwaukie City was platted upon the site of what was afterwards platted as Lakeport. A settlement in East China was called Hallville, and names have been given to other localities not platted or incorporated, as Grant Center, Jeddo, Riley Center.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
