Homer Township, Michigan | |
---|---|
Township | |
Location within the state of Michigan | |
Coordinates: 42°7′41″N 84°47′49″W / 42.12806°N 84.79694°WCoordinates: 42°7′41″N 84°47′49″W / 42.12806°N 84.79694°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Michigan |
County | Calhoun |
Area | |
• Total | 36.2 sq mi (93.7 km2) |
• Land | 35.7 sq mi (92.4 km2) |
• Water | 0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2) |
Elevation | 991 ft (302 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 3,015 |
• Density | 84/sq mi (32.6/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 49245 |
Area code(s) | 517 |
FIPS code | 26-38940 |
GNIS feature ID | 1626485 |
Homer Township is a civil township of Calhoun County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,015 at the 2010 census.
The first permanent settlers were from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Powell Grover, William Wintersteen, Richard McMutrie, and Henry McMurtrie walked from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, arriving in the Homer area in April 1832. Powell Grover's group lived their first year in an abandoned log cabin located in Section 11 of present-day Homer Township, said to be the former residence of Potawatomi native Chief Ne-au-to-beer-saw, while the settlers built their own cabins. Grover also built a saw mill on the north bank of the Kalamazoo River in Section 11. The plains where Grover and his friends homesteaded was known as the Pennsylvania Settlement.
Milton Barney arrived from Lyons, New York, the summer of 1832 to scout the area and returned that September with his family and workmen to settle on the south bank of the Kalamazoo River in Section 5. Soon afterwards Barney hired Osha Wilder to layout the plat for the village of Barneyville on the southwest corner of Section 5, southeast corner of Section 6, northeast corner of Section 7, and northwest corner of Section 8. This was the beginning of the village of Homer.
In 1834, the territorial legislature divided the area into townships of 12-mile (19 km) squares 144 square miles (370 km2). The township in lower Calhoun County was named Homer due to the influence of James Hopkins and many other settlers from Homer, Cortland County, New York. This first township was later divided into the townships of Albion, Clarendon, Eckford, and Homer—each 6-mile (10 km) squares.