Bay City is located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. Situated in the Great Lakes Bay region, Bay City once was home to shipbuilders who built vessels for the U.S. Navy, along with some of the largest freighters on the Great Lakes.

While no longer in business today, these shipbuilders supplied the region with a rich maritime history, preserved today in area museums like the Kantzler Maritime Gallery at the Bay County Historical Museum. Some of the city's most popular annual events -- the Bay City River Roar, the Tall Ship Celebration, and the Bay City Fireworks Festival -- also are centered around the city's waterfront. The Bay City State Recreation Area, a 2,100-acre state park located on the shore of Saginaw Bay, also is a destination point in the area. It boasts a one-mile-long sandy beach, and is home to Tobico Marsh -- one of the largest remaining freshwater, coastal wetlands on the Great Lakes.
 
The Bay Area also is home to the Dow Corning Corporation's international headquarters. Other companies -- like S.C. Johnson & Son, General Motors Powertrain, and Carbone of America -- also have locations in the Bay Area. A couple of higher education institutions -- Delta College and Saginaw Valley State University -- also are located in nearby University Center.

For trivia buffs, the Bay City Rollers -- a Scottish band -- was named after this city. Notable Bay City natives also include Madonna and Warren Avis, founder of Avis Rent-A-Car. Bay City also was home to the now-defunct Defoe Shipbuilding Company, which built a number of vessels, including a presidential yacht that was used by three American presidents -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Richard Nixon.