to
Update
) is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,034.
The city is popular for its annual Celtic Festival, which attracts people from all over the United States and its sister city Brecon, Wales. It is also the hometown of the Saline Fiddlers and Fiddlers ReStrung, two nationally renowned high school bluegrass/fiddle groups. Saline, whose well-regarded school district is perhaps its biggest draw, is ranked the 42nd best place to live out of 1,300 rated cities in the United States in a 2005 CNN/Money Magazine poll and 59th in 2007's poll, and also made CNN/Money's list of best places to retire.
Before the 18th century, Native Americans traveled to what is now Saline to hunt wildlife and gather salt from the salt springs they found nearby. In the 18th century, French explorers canoed up to the area and also harvested the salt. They named the local river Saline, which means salty or saline in French. Europeans settled the area in the 19th century, most of them coming from England and Germany. Together with Orange Risdon , a government surveyor who is generally considered to be the city's founder, the residents named the town Saline, which was officially established in 1832. One of the city's most famous landmarks was constructed in 1875, the Second-Empire frame, two-and-one-half story residential building, the Davenport House, a.k.a. Curtis Mansion. The town continued to grow, and in 1931 the Village of Saline became the City of Saline.