Uri Raymond settled in Michigan’s Thumb in 1848 and taught school the first winter in a log home located in Section 10 of Sanilac Township. Uri established his first general store in the settlement of Sanilac Mills, later known as Bark Shanty Point, currently the Village of Port Sanilac, very near the water’s edge on the end of Cedar Street. His stock consisted of the bare essentials of the first settlers of Bark Shanty Point.Salt pork, bacon, flour, meal, sugar, molasses, tea, coffee, dried apples, and to***co were in the grocery section and axes, saws, gun powder, clothing and bolds of cloth in the hardware. The growth and development of the thumb were very dependent on Lake Huron and the shipping industry in the 1800’s. In 1877 the Village of Port Sanilac was officially incorporated. Uri moved his mercantile and hardware from his harbor location to Ridge Street (M-25) in 1888. He continued in the business, with his son Frederick, until his death in October of 1899. For 159 years, the Raymond Hardware was owned and operated by three generations of the Raymond family. Uri’s original store is now the site of the Port Sanilac Marina, and home to “Uri’s Waterfront Dining.”
