Lake Odessa is a village in Ionia County of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The population was 2,018 at the 2010 census. It is located in the southern portion of the county in Odessa Township on the northeast shore of Jordan Lake, which is the boundary with Barry County. Since 1987, Lake Odessa has been named a "Tree City USA" by the

National Arbor Day Foundation The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 500 million trees in neighborhoods, communitie ...

History

Several brothers in the Russell family began settling here around 1839 and it became known as the "Russell Settlement". It later became known as "Bonanza" and a Post Office with that name was established in 1880. When the

Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad The Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad (DL&N) is a defunct railroad which was formed on December 27, 1876 as a reorganization of the foreclosed Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Rail Road. The segment of its main line from Detroit to Lansing ...

(later the

Pere Marquette Railroad The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its p ...

) was built through the area in the 1880s, the village was moved about a mile southwest. At that time the name was changed to "Lake Odessa", derived from the nearby Jordan Lake and the name of Odessa Township, which had been established in 1846. The township had been named for the city of

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

in Ukraine, reflecting an interest of one of the founders in Ukraine as well as a desire for a distinctive name. Investor Humphrey Wager purchased of farmland on Jordan Lake and

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 Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted the village in 1887. With the advantage of a station on the new railroad, the new village quickly eclipsed the former settlement at Bonanza. The village incorporated in 1889. John R. Waite, a local man with an interest in history, has been credited with significant historical research for the village of Lake Odessa. John is also recognized as the President of the Lake Odessa Area Historical Society and is involved with the Train Depot Museum.

Lake Odessa Community Library

The village is also home to the Lake Odessa Community Library, located at 1007 Fourth Ave, whose hours are as follows: Monday....Closed Tuesday.... 9am-7pm Wednesday....9am-5pm Thursday....9am-7pm Friday....9am-5pm Saturday....9am-12pm Sunday....Closed The library boasts over 25,000 books, DVDs, and other resources in addition to offering wireless internet and hot spots, which are available to take home, copy, scanning, lamination, notary, and fax service. They have many non-book items that are available for check-out as well, which includes a metal detector, power tools, a typewriter, sewing machines, and a Cricut system. They also host book discussion, author events, story time, and yoga classes. Their digital collection includes ebooks, audiobooks, emagazines, movies, TV shows, and music as well as access to a new Libby Collection. The eShelf and research section is available to Michigan residents or Michigan library or school access only, which contains resources such as MyHeritage Library Edition, Consumer Reports, Newspaper Source Plus, Auto Repair Source, LearningExpress Library, Small Engine Repair Reference Center, AtoZDatabases, MasterFILE, eBooks Public Library, MeLCat, and Novelist Plus. In 2014, the library underwent a $625,000 renovation and moved to a temporary relocation on Velte Road. The library is housed in an old movie theater, the Lake Theater (previously named the Diamond Theater), which was opened pre-1914. The renovation expanded the library, creating spaces for a new meeting room, expansion of the technology space, and separate areas for children and teenagers. Fox 17 reported, “super high ceilings, real brick, steel columns, granite counter tops, computers, and wifi ready. The plans also included removing part of the adjoining wall to Meyers Bakery and Beanery.”

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , all land. Lake Odessa, along with neighboring

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

, Sunfield and Clarksville, make up the Lakewood Public School district.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 2,018 people, 835 households, and 534 families living in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 950 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 91.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.1%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 4.2% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 10.3% of the population. There were 835 households, of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.0% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age in the village was 34.6 years. 27% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.6% were from 25 to 44; 23.5% were from 45 to 64; and 13.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,272 people, 892 households, and 600 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 977 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 95.16%

, 0.13%

, 0.66% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 2.77% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 6.07% of the population. There were 892 households, out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were

living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.08. In the village, the population was spread out, with 30.5% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $34,896, and the median income for a family was $41,379. Males had a median income of $32,961 versus $25,787 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $19,822. About 5.5% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

Notes

Sources

* Village of Lake Odessa site * Chapter XIL, pp. 154+ *

External links

* * * {{authority control Villages in Ionia County, Michigan Villages in Michigan Grand Rapids metropolitan area