Howard City

History

Benjamin Ensley owned the land on which he, E. W. Muenscher, and Mr. Shaw began the settlement that Muenscher platted in 1868. It was named for William A. Howard, a Detroit railroad attorney. The Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad depot opened in 1869. A post office was established on January 12, 1870, with John B. Spencer as the first postmaster. It incorporated as a village in 1873. The post office name was shortened to "Howard" on February 2, 1895, but restored to Howard City on January 19, 1899. The village's Main Street was initially constructed on Ensley Street, which was named after early settler Benjamin Ensley. In 1883, however, many of the wooden buildings on Ensley Street burned down. Main Street was then shifted over to Edgerton Street, its present location. The Hudson Knife factory and the Skinner and Steenman sideboard factory were two of the earliest businesses. Later, Hudson Knife Co. went through changes and became the Joslin and eventually Olsen Knife Company, which had the somewhat famous jingle, "Fatty Fatty run for your life, here comes Skinny with an Olsen Knife." Howard City schools were combined with Sand Lake schools to the south in 1962, and renamed Tri County, because students from Kent, Montcalm, and Newaygo counties all attended. The school still runs under the same moniker.

Geography

Howard City is in northwestern Montcalm County, in the southeast corner of Reynolds Township. A small portion of the village extends south into Pierson Township. The U.S. 131 freeway passes west of the village, with access from Exit 118. U.S. 131 leads south-southwest to Grand Rapids and north to Cadillac. Greenville, the largest city in Montcalm County, is southeast of Howard City. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which , or 1.39%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  671
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  668
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  610
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  541
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  536
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  523
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  517
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  476