Hell is an unincorporated community in Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is located within Putnam Township along Patterson Lake Road (D-32) about northwest of Ann Arbor and southwest of Pinckney. As an unincorporated community, Hell has no legally defined boundaries or official population statistics of its own, although a journalist found 76 residents in 2012. It is served by the Pinckney 48169 ZIP Code.
Geography
Hell is in Putnam Township, Livingston County, and about south of Howell, the county seat. Based on satellite views, the area is heavily forested, with some fields west and east of town. Hell's business district is centered along Patterson Lake Road about northwest of Ann Arbor, about southeast of Lansing, south-southwest of Flint, and west-northwest of Detroit.
History
Hell developed around a sawmill, gristmill, distillery and tavern. All four were operated by George Reeves, who moved to the area in the 1830s from the Catskill Mountains in New York. He purchased a sawmill on what is now known as Hell Creek in 1841. In addition to the sawmill, Reeves purchased of land surrounding the mill. Reeves then built a gristmill on Hell Creek which was powered by water that was impounded by a small dam across the creek. Farmers in the area were quite successful in growing wheat and had an abundance of grain. Reeves opened a distillery to process the excess grain into whiskey. Reeves also opened a general store/tavern on his property.
The tavern and distillery soon became a thriving business for Reeves. He built a ballroom on the second floor of the establishment and a sulky racetrack around his millpond. Reeves also sold his alcohol to nearby roadhouses and stores for as little as ten cents a gallon. There are a number of theories for the origin of Hell's name. The first is that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other: "" ('So beautifully bright!'). Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck. A fourth is that soon after Michigan gained statehood, Reeves was asked what he thought the town he helped settle should be called and replied "I don't care. You can name it Hell for all I care." The name became official on October 13, 1841.
In 1963, the Hell Chamber of Commerce sponsored a two-day "fun festival" which began with Satan's arrival by helicopter at "Satan's Hills", a local housing development.
The community occasionally experiences sub-zero temperatures (including in January 2014, January 2018, and January 2019), leading to comparisons with the phrase when hell freezes over.