Howard City is a village in Montcalm County, Michigan, United States. The population was 1,835 at the 2020 census.
The village's Main Street was initially constructed on Ensley Street, which was named after early settler Benjamin Ensley. In 1883, however, many of the wooden buildings on Ensley Street burned down. Main Street was then shifted over to Edgerton Street, its present location. The Hudson Knife factory and the Skinner and Steenman sideboard factory were two of the earliest businesses. Later, Hudson Knife Co. went through changes and became the Joslin and eventually Olsen Knife Company, which had the somewhat famous jingle, "Fatty Fatty run for your life, here comes Skinny with an Olsen Knife." Howard City schools were combined with Sand Lake schools to the south in 1962, and renamed Tri County, because students from Kent, Montcalm, and Newaygo counties all attended. The school still runs under the same moniker.
Geography
Howard City is in northwestern Montcalm County, in the southeast corner of Reynolds Township. A small portion of the village extends south into Pierson Township. The U.S. 131 freeway passes west of the village, with access from Exit 118. U.S. 131 leads south-southwest to Grand Rapids and north to Cadillac. Greenville, the largest city in Montcalm County, is southeast of Howard City.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which , or 1.39%, are water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Howard City had a population of 1,835. The median age was 32.2 years. 27.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.5 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 696 households in Howard City, of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 41.5% were married-couple households, 15.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. of 2010, there were 1,808 people, 685 households, and 464 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 743 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.3% White, 0.6% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.
There were 685 households, of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.13.
The median age in the village was 33.6 years. 29.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.9% were from 25 to 44; 21.8% were from 45 to 64; and 12.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 46.6% male and 53.4% female.
2000 census
As of the census
Schools
Tri County Area Schools is the main school district in Howard City. Schools include Tri County High School, Tri County Middle School, MacNaughten Elementary, Sand Lake Elementary and Edgerton Upper Elementary. The School mascot is the Viking. Sports include football, basketball, softball, baseball, wrestling, sideline cheer, competitive cheer, golf, track and field, cross country, bowling, poms and soccer. In 2009, the varsity softball team took a District title, but fell short at regionals to Petosky.
Neighboring schools include Newaygo, Grant, Morley-Stanwood, Lakeview and Cedar Springs.
The district was a consolidation of the Sand Lake and Howard City school boards. It came into existence on April 3, 1962, the day members of those communities voted in favor of consolidating their schools. The consolidated schools began operation in fall 1962. Prior to the consolidation, Howard City High School served the community. Impetus for consolidation occurred when the State of Michigan adopted new standards for education which required school systems to spend additional funds. A former member of the school board of Sand Lake, Charles Northup, stated, "Howard City was almost in the same predicament as us. We figured we would have a good school system coming together." Sand Lake was a community which sought consolidation due to the financial strain from meeting the new requirements.