Dimondale

History

The Potawatomi originally had a permanent camp along the Grand River in the Dimondale area before white settlement began in the 1830s. Relations between white settlers (most of whom were from New York and New England) and the Potowatomie were generally cordial with local residents permanently deeding of land near the river to the local Indians. The local band held the deed to the leased land until the Potowatomie were forced west by the Indian Removal Act. Isaac M. Dimond came to the area in 1848 and, as one of his enterprises, in 1850 began to construct a dam, just east of Silver Creek on the Grand River near the center of section 15 of Windsor Township. By 1852, the dam was completed and a saw mill was in operation. He built a grist mill in 1856. On August 6, 1856, Hosey Harvey surveyed the village in order for Dimond to have it platted with the name "Dimondale". An unusual feature of the village plat was that its streets ran Northeast to Southwest (e.g., Bridge St.) and Northwest to Southeast, while most roads in the surrounding area in Michigan ran north–south and east–west. Its borders make a rough diamond shape on a map. A post office named "East Windsor" had been established in the eastern part of Windsor Township in about 1860. This office was transferred to Dimondale and renamed in 1872. In 1878 the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway came through and the area was given a station referring to it as Dimondale. By 1880 the settlement had seven shops: a sawmill, a grist mill, two millinery shops, a planing mill, and several machine shops. In 1906, Dimondale incorporated as a village. From 1929 to 1963, Dimondale had its own high school, until it merged with the Holt School District. This occurred after the school district ran into tax issues due to…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,591
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,835
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  13,406
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,588
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,407
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  11,007
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  10,768
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,311

Most recent

• M 3.3 — 2015-06-30
  5 km NNE of Burlington, Michigan
• M 4.2 — 2015-05-02
  5 km S of Galesburg, Michigan