On the Cass River, on March 1, 1849, four men led by Townsend North and James N. Edmunds found a suitable place to build a dam and start a town, which was named for Edmunds’s uncle, Matthew Vassar, later the founder of Vassar College, New York. For the next thirty years the town’s growth was based on lumbering and its many related industries. Cork pine, the best variety of white pine, grew abundantly along the Cass River and was much in demand. These trees reached heights of 150 feet and diameters of three or four feet, and their wood was light, strong, and easy to work with. Millions of board feet were marketed all over the world, especially in America’s prairie states. After the forests were depleted, a diversified economy developed here in agriculture, manufacturing, and commercial business.