Web Design in Spring Arbor, MI

About Spring Arbor, Jackson County

Spring Arbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Jackson County, Michigan. The 2020 population was 2,916 across 2.81 square miles, of which 2.78 square miles is land. It is the home of Spring Arbor University, a liberal arts university affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. State highway M-60 runs through the center of town, reaching Jackson, the county seat, 9 miles to the northeast and Tekonsha 24 miles to the southwest. Elevation is 1,001 feet, the ZIP code is 49283, and the GNIS feature ID is 638533.

History of Spring Arbor

• Potawatomi people lived in present-day Spring Arbor in three known aboriginal villages until their removal to reservations near Green Bay, Wisconsin. It further recounts that a Village of Spring Arbour was planned during the mid-19th century along what is now the intersection of Cross and Hammond roads in the southwest of the township, and that development began but stopped when the Free Will Baptists' seminary left for what is now Hillsdale College. Remnants of the plot remain visible from the air, with a portion of Matthews Road continuing along a street aimed at the Cross and Hammond intersection.

Landmarks and Places in Spring Arbor

• Spring Arbor is known for artesian water springs that feed several small lakes, creeks and rivers. Lime Lake County Park occupies 2 acres and holds a boat launch, a swimming area, playground equipment and access to the Falling Waters Trail. Lime Lake itself is man-made in origin: it was created by the quarrying of marl, a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud used to make concrete, and divers visit to look at the underwater mountains, pillars and spires left behind by that production. Falling Waters Park sits at the site of the planned 19th-century village. The Spring Arbor University campus is the other principal landmark in the community.

The Spring Arbor Economy

• It also records that several nursing homes, retirement centers and assisted living centers operate in the community. Two K-12 districts cover the CDP, Western School District and Concord Community Schools, and Jackson College also serves the township.

Community Life in Spring Arbor

• The university sets the tone and the census data shows it. The 2020 median age was 22.0 years, by a wide margin the youngest in this research set, with only 11.0 percent of residents under 18 and 18.8 percent aged 65 or older. Spring Arbor University was established in 1873 as a seminary of the Free Methodist Church, then became a high school, a junior college, a college, and finally a university on April 30, 2001. Trinity Lutheran School serves grades K-8 from the northeast quarter of the township and is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Falling Waters Park holds historical information about the area, including the Potawatomi village, the founding of the village of Spring Arbor, the 1835 founding of what would become Albion College, and the 1844 founding of the shared predecessor of Hillsdale College and Spring Arbor University.

Local reference: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org