Situated in central Mason County, the Village of Custer, Michigan is surrounded by Custer Township and includes a portion of the Manistee National Forest.
The Black River flows just outside the village limits in the north, then cuts south through the southeastern part of the village, emptying into the Pere Marquette River just south of town.
The main routes through the village are US-10, which runs east-west through the northern part of Custer, intersecting with Custer Road (Main Street) in the north-central portion of the village. The center of Scottville is 3.3 miles west, and Fountain is 9.2 miles north.
Founded in 1876 as a station of the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, the village was named for General George Armstrong Custer, who was killed that year at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The village was platted by Charles E. Roussegui in 1878. On December 23 of that year, a post office was established at Custer, with the station agent, L.T. Southworth, as the first postmaster.
Custer was incorporated as a village in 1895. Although Custer's main street was originally only one block long, the village soon included a general store, a saloon, a bakery, a blacksmith shop, a livery, a pickle station, a cheese-box factory, a clothespin factory, and the Briggs and Booth Lumber Company.
When lumber resources in the region died down, diminishing the importance of the railroad, a large portion of the village migrated to what is now its northern section, to be near US-10, which was completed through Custer in the 1950s. While some businesses, such as Sanders Meat Company, remained in the old section of the village, other businesses moved north, as did the post office.
Custer has never been a large village. Its population when it first appeared on a census in 1900 was 269, and its population in 2010 was 284. Its peak population was in 1960 when there were 365 residents of Custer.
This is a guide to online resources relating to the Village of Custer, Michigan. Websites representing the municipality or any individuals, businesses, industries, schools, churches, organizations, attractions, or events within the village are appropriate here, as are purely informational sites about the village.
Recommended Resources
Headquartered in Custer, Michigan, the K-12 public school district operates MCE Elementary School and MCE Middle/High School, both of which are highlighted here, along with a district calendar, schedules, office contacts, and staff listings. A student enrollment packet, household information report form, and supplemental student insurance form are available in PDF format, along with a district course catalog, student handbooks, and transportation schedules.
http://mceschools.com/
Michigan Trophy Whitetail Hunts
Also known as the Rhino Hunt Club, the business offers whitetail deer hunts, specializing in high-fence deer preserve hunting on its preserves, which include hardwoods and thick cover, a stream, several ponds, and food plots scattered throughout the property. An overview of the business is provided, with photos and details of its living quarters within the preserve, hunting packages and prices, videos, slideshows, and photos, as well as an introduction to area attractions.
http://michigan-trophy-whitetail-hunts.com/
Founded by Joseph T. Sanders in 1925, the meat company is still in the hands of the members of the Sanders family. Shipping anywhere in the United States, the company offers a variety of meat products, as well as fresh meat and bundles available only in their store in downtown Custer, Michigan. The company also offers custom butchering and processing services, deer processing, and custom barbecue hogs. Information on becoming a distributor is included.
https://sandersmeats.com/
The Roman Catholic parish is located on South Madison Avenue in the Village of Custer, Michigan. Its religious education, music, lawn and snow care, quilt group, prayer shawl, food pantry, and other ministries are highlighted. Weekend and weekday liturgy schedules are posted, along with sacrament schedules, policies, and contact data. Its physical address, telephone numbers for the parish office and rectory, email addresses, and a contact form are included.
http://www.stmarycuster.org/
Custer is a small village in Mason County, Michigan. The official municipal website presents the history of the village, demographics, a list of the members of the village council, with contacts for the council president, clerk, and treasurer, and village ordinances that may be downloaded in PDF format. A gallery of photographs depicts businesses within the village, and a map of the village is displayed. Memorials and other projects of the village are highlighted.
http://www.villageofcuster.org/
Maintained by the Michigan American Legion, the facility sits on 1,853 acres in a wooded area south of the village of Custer, Michigan, and serves as a place for rehabilitation, reconnection, recovery, and renewal for military veterans. Handicapped accessible, the main house has four bedrooms and three full baths, and is capable of housing up to twelve people, while a wrap-around porch on the south and west sides of the house overlooks a 65-acre lake.
http://www.wilwin.org/
