Local History

At one time it was called Cedar from its location by the Cedar River.  Hiram and Joseph Putnam, from Jackson County, MI, became its first settlers on the village site in 1834.  O. B. Williams arrived from Batavia, NY, in 1839, and in 1840, he and his brother, James M. Williams, bought land from the Putnams, built a dam and a sawmill in 1840, a grist mill in 1842, and in 1845 made the first plat of the village which was named for them.  James M. Williams became the first postmaster on May 10, 1842, with the office named Williamstown, but changed to Williamston on December 2, 1884.  Incorporated as a village in 1871, with James N. Williams as its first president, and as a city in 1944.

Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.

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