Ida ( ) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) in

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The CDP had a population of 790 at the 2020 census. The community is mostly within Ida Township with a smaller portion extending north into Raisinville Township. As an unincorporated community, Ida has no legal autonomy of its own but does have its own post office with the 48140 ZIP Code.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The rural community of Ida is located in central

about north of the Ohio state line. The community is centered along Lewis Avenue within Ida Township with some development extending north of Ida East and Ida West Road into Raisinville Township. The community is located about west of the city of Monroe and sits at an elevation of above sea level. Ida is located about east of

U.S. Route 23 } U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south U.S. Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south as Portsmouth, Ohio, and has sinc ...

and is accessible via exit 13 (Ida West Road). M-50 (South Custer Road) runs about to the north. Other nearby communities include the village of Dundee to the northwest, the city of Petersburg to the west, and the unincorporated communities of

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to the southwest and La Salle to the southeast. Ida contains its own post office that uses the 48140 ZIP Code. The post office is located at 2888 Lewis Avenue in the center of the community. The ZIP Code serves most of Ida Township and a small western portion of La Salle Township, as well as a very small southwestern portion of Raisinville Township and the southeastern corner of Dundee Township. The community is served by Ida Public Schools, which contains three schools–elementary, middle, and high school–on one main campus just east of Lewis Avenue. The district serves a much larger area extending beyond the community. The Ida Township Municipal Office is located in the community center at 3016 Lewis Avenue. The building also contains the Ida Branch Library of the Monroe County Library System.

History

Originally, the area served as a stagecoach stopover for travelers from Monroe to

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the mai ...

in the early 1800s. In 1825, the Wayside Inn opened as the first business in the area to serve travelers along the treacherous roadway that consisted of very poor Indian trails. All of the first settlers in the area were farmers, who even earned extra money by helping travelers who became stuck in the muddy trails. The Michigan Southern Railroad first constructed railway lines through the area by 1839, which led to the growth of the community. The area also became a very popular deer hunting destination for early settlers. Ida Township itself was established in 1837 and named for local civil leader Ida M. Taylor. The community of Ida was formally established with a post office on July 11, 1844 with William Riggs serving as the first postmaster. The post office closed briefly on July 29, 1852 but was soon reestablished on June 11, 1853. The community of Ida was officially

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted in 1868. The Michigan Southern Railroad line was one of the first railways in the state, and Ida would receive a train depot along the route that eventually became part of the

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833 and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the ...

. The depot was located along Lewis Avenue near the fire station and was incorporated as part of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

before the train depot closed in 1959. The railway line was disestablished and removed entirely. Ida no longer has a railway through the community. Ida organized its own fire department in 1938 after a series of local fire concerns. In 1951, the department moved to its current location at 3016 Lewis Avenue and continues to serve the township as a part-time staffed and

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...

. One of the more notable structures within the community is the St. Joseph Church. It is part of the St. Gabriel Parish, which is as old as the community itself. The nearby St. Joseph Cemetery has its oldest gravesite dating back to 1841. The current church building was constructed in 1904. For the 2020 census, Ida was included as a newly-listed

, which is included for statistical purposes only. Ida continues to remain an unincorporated community with no legal autonomy of its own.

Demographics

Images

File:Ida Township Post Office.jpg, File:Saint Joseph Catholic Church Ida Michigan.JPG, File:IdaTownshipMI.png,

References

{{Monroe County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Census-designated places in Monroe County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Monroe County, Michigan Populated places established in 1844 1844 establishments in Michigan