Bay City. 1 City (2020 pop. 32,661), seat of Bay co., S Mich., a port of entry on the Saginaw River at its mouth on Saginaw Bay (an inlet of Lake Huron); inc. 1859 with the consolidation of several settlements along the river. Its harbor handles Great Lakes and ocean shipping. Bay City is the industrial, marketing, and transportation center of a rich farm area that yields sugar beets, potatoes, and dairy products. Shipbuilding is also important. The city grew as a large lumbering center, but when the forests were depleted (after 1890), it turned to diversified manufacturing. Saginaw Valley State Univ. is in nearby University Center. A state park and two state forests are in the area. 2 City (2020 pop. 18,061), seat of Matagorda co., S Tex., near the Colorado River and the Gulf of Mexico; inc. 1894. It is a shipping and industrial center for a region that produces oil, gas, salt, beef cattle, rice, cotton, and grains. Plastics and chemicals are produced. The county museum is there, and Matagorda Bay and several Gulf beaches are nearby.
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