Founded by Judge John Sturgis who moved here from Monroe, Michigan in 1828 and built a log cabin, by the mid 1800s the city of Sturgis was booming. The arrival of the Michigan Southern Railroad in 1851 gave rise to fast growth for the area. In 1863, Sturgis had a population of 1600 and could boast of having four churches, three lodges, 14 factories, 12 stores, one bank and one flour mill--this despite a major fire in 1859.

How was Sturgis named? There are several versions about the naming, but the most probably is because of a pan of bisquits! John Sturgis was the first settler in this area and many say that the town was named for him, but legend has it that Sturgis was chosen as the town's name because Mrs. John Sturgis has baked a pan of bisquits and sent them to a surveying party near their cabin. Lewis Cass, who later became governor, was part of that surveying party. When the time came to name the town, Governor Cass remembered the bisquits and was insistent that the town be named Sturgis rather than Sherman & Ivanhoe which were the common names for the two areas of the town.

While many cities of the same size were still in the dark, Sturgis became known as the Electric City according to local historian Robert Hair.  First the city's leaders installed a 150-kilowatt, alternating current generator in 1899, but demand continued to grow and in 1905 it was decided to build a dam where the John M. Leland gristmill and sawmill had once stood on the St. Joseph River. 

Today, Chicago Road (US 12) is still the main thoroughfare of downtown Sturgis, a street lined on either side by Victorian era commercial buildings, helping the city retain its historic charm.

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