Woodland, Michigan is a small village in the center of Woodland Township, in the northeast corner of Barry County.
Woodland Road (Main Street) and Carlton Center Road (Broadway Street) intersect downtown, and these are the only roads leading to or from the village.
Cities and villages within twenty-five miles of Woodland include Lake Odessa, Sunfield, Nashville, Freeport, Vermontville, Hastings, Clarksville, Mulliken, Saranac, Ionia, Middleville, Portland, Grand Ledge, Eagle, Charlotte, Caledonia, and Potterville. Lansing is about thirty miles to the east, and Grand Rapids is about forty miles to the northwest.
Surrounded by residential land, Woodland is a bedroom community to the Lansing and Grand Rapids areas. As it is not on any major thoroughfares, Woodland does not have a lot of industrial or commercial concerns, although it does include some businesses supporting local residents, such as a gas station, a convenience store, a food cooperative, a bar, a propane company, an autobody shop, and an RV dealership, as well as a church, library, post office, and township and village offices. The Lakewood Early Childhood Center is also located in Woodland.
Herald E. Classic Memorial Park, located in the center of town, includes a ballfield and a large wooden play structure. The park hosts the village's annual homecoming event and other activities.
The village first appeared on the US Census rolls in 1880 with a population of 266. Its peak population was 495 in 2000, but it declined to 391 by the time of the 2020 census.
The first recorded settlement of the area by European-Americans was in 1837, when two brothers, Charles and Jonathan Galloway, and Samuel S. Haight came to the area. In the late 1840s, John McArthur and a man named Snyder came to the area and opened a general store and a blacksmith shop respectively.
A post office was established on January 27, 1848, with Nehemiah Lovewell as postmaster. The new settlement was named for the dense woods surrounding its cleared areas. Jacob Strauss opened a store in the early 1850s, and Lawrence Hilbert opened a store in the mid-1850s or early 1860s.
Further growth was slow, however, until after the Civil War. At that time, lots in the village were designated and sold, and the lumber industry became active in the surrounding area, and the village had sawmills, grist mills, and several other small commercial and industrial concerns. By 1870, Woodland had a bank and a farm implement store.
In 1888, Woodland was on the route of a stage line that would transport residents and others from Woodland to Hastings, about thirteen miles away. In 1889, the Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw Railroad established a station in Woodland, which helped to move goods in and out of the community. Woodland was incorporated as a village in 1892.
As trees were cut, the timber industry declined and agriculture became more significant, along with accompanying businesses, such as a cheese factory, a grain elevator, a fruit evaporator, a ginseng grower, and a creamery.
The focus of this portion of our web guide is the village of Woodland, Michigan. Government websites representing entities within the village, as well as local businesses, industries, schools, churches, organizations, attractions, events, and recreational opportunities, are appropriate for this category.
Recommended Resources
Located in Woodland, Michigan, the public library provides free services to everyone in the surrounding area. Its resources include a collection of about fifteen thousand materials, including printed books, audiobooks, e-books, movies, and e-audiobooks, some of which are available through the Woodlands Cooperative. Its downloadable library and other resources are featured, along with library procedures, programs for children, teens, and adults, and a calendar of events.
https://www.spindler.michlibrary.org/
Headquartered in the village of Woodland, in Woodland Township, Michigan, the K-12 public school system includes the Lakewood Early Childhood Center, Lakewood Elementary School, Lakewood Middle School, and Lakewood High School, each of which is featured here, with locations, school hours, faculty and staff contacts, and announcements. District maps, plans, and reports are included, with an overview of the district's athletics and arts programs, and employment opportunities.
https://www.lakewoodps.org/
Situated southeast of the village, the cemetery is located along Velte Road. Its location is shown on a map. The Find a Grave website encourages visitors to adopt a cemetery and/or upload photographs of the grounds and of memorials to people interred within the grounds, as well as transcribing such information as dates and places of birth and death and other information, including cross-referencing with the gravesites of family members. Virtual flowers may also be uploaded.
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1995/woodland-memorial-park
The civil township is in the northeast corner of Barry County, Michigan, and includes the village of Woodland. The official township website includes a brief profile of the community, public notices, schedules of township meetings, agendas, and minutes. Its address, telephone, and fax numbers are provided, along with social media links, a calendar, and contacts for the township supervisor, clerk's office, treasurer, fire department, police department, and cemetery.
http://www.woodlandtwp.com/
