Settled in 1836, Saranac stood in the upper Grand River Valley, a promising but undeveloped area with fertile soil, water power from Lake Creek, and river navigation to Grand Rapids. The town grew slowly until 1857, when the arrival of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad made it a shipping center. Local products included flour, lumber, hides, felloes, barrels, and staves. As the forest disappeared, manufacturing declined, and agriculture gradually became the dominant industry.