Georgetown was George's mill town before it was Jenison's
Georgetown Township took its name from George Ketchum's sawmills on Rush Creek, while early settler Hiram Jenison gave his family name to the community of Jenison.
The township is named for a George, but its largest community carries another family name. George Ketchum arrived around 1837 and built the first sawmills on Rush Creek. The area became known as “George’s Town,” and Georgetown Township was established in 1840.
Hiram Jenison was the first European-American settler identified by the township, arriving in 1834. The Jenison family worked in lumbering, and by 1838 owned 1,600 acres south of the Grand River along Rush Creek. In 1840, Georgetown’s seven voters elected Hiram as the township’s first supervisor.
The Jenison name stayed with the unincorporated community, while Ketchum’s first name stayed with the township. The L. & L. Jenison Mill, built in 1864, produced flour until 1953 and was later demolished.
The two names are therefore related without being interchangeable: Georgetown remembers Ketchum’s mill settlement, and Jenison remembers a family central to the area’s early lumber and farming history.
Sources
Last reviewed against the listed sources: July 12, 2026.