Owosso Retail Center

Owosso is a city in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,194 at the 2010 census. The city is located on the eastern side of Owosso Township but is politically independent. The city was named after Chief Wasso, an Ojibwa leader of the Shiawassee area. Owosso is the largest city in Shiawassee County. Alfred L. and Benjamin O. Williams were early settlers to the town. They drew Elias Comstock, who built the first permanent home in the settlement. Owosso was incorporated as a city in 1859 at which time it had 1000 people. It had never had a period as a village. The town's first mayor was Amos Gould, a judge originally from New York. In 1876, it organized its fire department. In the 1950s, Owosso was reputed to be a sundown town where African Americans were not allowed to live or stay overnight. Owosso experiences frigid winters with the last snow usually falling in April, typically Northern Midwestern spring thaws, balmy to hot summers, and colorful falls with the first snows usually appearing in October. Each year Owosso averages eleven days with temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C), and nine days with temperatures above 90 °F (32 °C). Owosso averages twenty-nine inches of rain per year, and forty-one inches of snow. The average growing season in Owosso is 144 days..