Linden was settled in late 1835 by two brothers, Richard and Perry Lamb. Perry Lamb provided housing for travelers. The village of Linden subdivision was platted by Consider Warner and Eben Harris in 1840. Warner and Harris also built the Springer's Hotel hostelry that same year. On September 23, 1851, the Linden post office was opened. North Linden village was platted in the northwest corner of section 20 along the railroad on January 31, 1857. Linden was incorporated as a village in 1871 by an act of the Legislature. In 1974, the community began to hold its Summer Happening festival. In 1988, Linden changed its incorporated status from village to city. In 2000, Linden, along with Fenton City and Township, passed a millage to turn the Tri-County Parks & Recreation share department into a parks and recreation metropolitan district, while Argentine Township and Tyrone Townships defeated the millage. Tri-County ceased operation on December 1, 2000 when the Southern Lakes Regional Parks & Recreation District began operations. On May 18, 2007, a fire destroyed the historic Union Block of businesses and apartments on Broad Street. The building was demolished in August 2007 to make way for future development. In 2008, the LaFontaine family purchased the vacant space of seven lots. In 2014, an underground gasoline leak from the Beacon & Bridge gas station affected Union Block and other downtown properties. Dr. Nicole Wax of Wax Orthodontics of Linden purchased the block from the LaFontaine family in March 2016. Summer Happenings was not held in 2011. A competing annual festival, Linden Mills Days, was launched in 2011 when Happenings pulled out of the city. In 2012, Happenings was held on Linden Community Schools grounds, while successful could not logistically return in 2013. In September 2011, one of the Loose Senior Center building was destroyed by fire. A capital campaign began to replace the building. In June 2012, the center's board of director agreed to place a bid on a building to move to in Fenton Township. Instead, the center added an expansion to an existing building which was finished in December 2013.
As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $50,932, and the median income for a family was $57,798. Males had a median income of $50,000 versus $29,758 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,620. About 2.5% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.
As of the census of 2010, there were 3,991 people, 1,552 households, and 1,067 families residing in the city. The population density was. There were 1,695 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 96.8% White, 0.5% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.0% of the population. There were 1,552 households of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couplesliving together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.3% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age in the city was 39.5 years. 25.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.9% were from 25 to 44; 23% were from 45 to 64, and 19.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.0% male and 53.0% female.
Government
Linden has a Council-manager governmentform of government and a Downtown Development Authority. The municipality operates its own well water system. The Loose Senior Citizen Center, which provides senior services and activities, is operated by a non-profit. The center receives some funding from a Genesee County senior millage and from Southern Lakes Parks & Recreation. The Southern Lakes Regional Parks & Recreation District operates Linden's parks and recreation programs for Linden's residences.
