County note shelf
Ionia County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Ionia County. This shelf has 9 practical notes and 21 local stories.
30 notes
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- Money and taxes Yes, Portland, Michigan Has Its Own Income Tax Tiny Portland in Ionia County levies a 1 percent city income tax on residents and half a percent on the people who commute in to work.
- History and culture Clarksville: a town named off a storekeeper's first name Clarksville in Campbell Township got its name in 1875 from Clark L. Howard, who built the first store at the crossroads and secured a post office named for his own first name.
- History and culture Hubbardston's Irish church, biggest building in the county St. John the Baptist parish in Hubbardston grew from a few Irish Catholic families who settled along Fish Creek in 1849; their 1868 church was the largest building in Ionia County.
- Money and taxes Ionia takes a 1% city income tax — Belding doesn't Ionia levies a city income tax of 1% on residents and 0.5% on non-residents who work in town — one of about two dozen Michigan cities that do, while neighboring Belding has none.
- Outdoors Portland's canoe man paddled 100,000 miles A bronze statue on the Grand River in Portland honors Verlen Kruger, who paddled over 100,000 miles and set a Guinness record for the longest canoe journey ever made.
- Outdoors The 2015 tornado that walked through downtown Portland On June 22, 2015, an EF1 tornado with 110 mph winds tore through downtown Portland, damaging dozens of homes and businesses, yet caused no deaths and only minor injuries.
- History and culture The Belrockton: where Belding's silk girls slept The 1906 Belrockton on Hanover Street was the last of three company dormitories Belding Brothers built for the single young women who ran its silk mills; it is now the city museum.
- History and culture The New York party that named Ionia for ancient Greece Ionia was settled in 1833 by about 63 people from Herkimer County, New York, led by Samuel Dexter; he gave it a name borrowed from an ancient Greek region on the coast of Asia Minor.
- History and culture Whites Bridge: burned by an arsonist, rebuilt board for board A covered bridge built over the Flat River in 1869 near Smyrna stood for 144 years until arson destroyed it in 2013; a near-exact replica reopened to traffic in 2020.
- Outdoors Bertha Brock Park: stone bridges over a trout stream Two miles west of Ionia, Bertha Brock Park has been a wooded county park since 1931, with a trout stream, three stone bridges, and rustic camping.
- History and culture Muir and Lyons, twin villages and an old grudge Across the Grand River from each other, Muir and Lyons are twin Ionia County villages — and Muir exists because Lyons let the railroad slip away.
- History and culture Pewamo, named for a man someone went hunting with The Ionia County village of Pewamo carries the name of a Potawatomi man whom early settler John C. Blanchard hunted with along the Grand River.
- History and culture Saranac, the village that got its name back Saranac grew up in 1836 where Lake Creek meets the Grand River, briefly lost its name to a clerical error, and boomed when the railroad arrived in 1857.
- History and culture The biggest building ever made of Ionia sandstone Ionia's 1886 courthouse is the largest structure ever built from local Ionia sandstone, capped by a domed cupola and a statue of Justice.
- History and culture Lake Odessa: a town that walked to the railroad Lake Odessa's name joins nearby Jordan Lake with Odessa Township, and in the 1880s merchants literally moved their buildings to meet the new rail line.
- History and culture Michigan's oldest schoolhouse hides in a state park A cobblestone one-room school built in 1847 in Berlin Township is believed to be Michigan's oldest surviving schoolhouse, now inside the Ionia State Recreation Area.
- Outdoors Portland, where the Looking Glass meets the Grand Portland sits where the Looking Glass flows into the Grand, and a paved riverwalk links its parks and century-old iron bridges along both waters.
- History and culture Portland's 1890 iron bridge still carries cars The Bridge Street Bridge over the Grand River in Portland is an 1890 iron truss bridge still open to traffic, saved in 1990 instead of scrapped.
- History and culture The Blanchard House, a lawyer's mansion turned county museum An 1880s Italianate mansion on Main Street in Ionia, built for lawyer and land man John C. Blanchard, is now the county historical museum.
- History and culture A longtime prison town Ionia has been a Michigan prison town since the 1800s, and corrections still shape local employment and population figures.
- History and culture Belding, the old "Silk City" Belding's Silk City nickname comes from the silk mills and company buildings that shaped its downtown.
- Home and property No city income tax in Belding Belding levies no city income tax, unlike Ionia and Portland (1% resident, 0.5% commuter); Belding commuters into Grand Rapids pay that city's 0.75% nonresident rate.
- Outdoors The Grand River and Ionia State Recreation Area The Grand River, Ionia State Recreation Area, and Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Trail give Ionia and Saranac easy access to paddling, trails, camping, and wildlife.
- Home and property Buying on a lake in Ionia County Lakefront buyers in southwest Ionia County should ask about lake boards, special assessments, lake rules, and septic systems near the water.
- Money and taxes This city has a local income tax Some Michigan cities charge the standard local income tax: 1% for residents and 0.5% for nonresidents who work in the city.
- Home and property Out in the township, you're on a well and septic Outside Ionia County's cities and village centers, township homes often use private wells and septic systems, and resale inspection is buyer-beware.
- History and culture The Ionia Free Fair: ten free days every July Ionia is home to the Ionia Free Fair, a free-admission July tradition that fills the county fairgrounds for ten days.
- Money and taxes Live in a Michigan village? You pay an extra layer of property tax Michigan village residents usually pay village property taxes on top of township taxes, so the village boundary can change a buyer's total rate.
- Money and taxes Buying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxes Michigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxes In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.