Leslie is a city in Ingham County in the U.S. state of

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 2,167 at the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by Leslie Township, but the two are administered autonomously.

Geography

The city of Leslie lies just east of US 127 in Ingham County on gently rolling hills. The city is located directly south of

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

, and directly north of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

. Leslie is also near Meridian-Baseline State Park. Numerous creeks flow through the city. Huntoon Creek, draining out from Huntoon Lake off of East Kinneville carves its way through downtown Leslie and by the City Little League Baseball fields. 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 city has a total area of , all land.

History

Leslie was first settled by Elijah Woodworth in 1836, who built the first log cabin in the city. It was originally named Meekerville after a pioneer to the area, Benjamin Meeker. Jerry G. Cornell named the town after , his home state. The name Leslie was adopted officially when a post office was assigned to the area in 1841. Leslie was later incorporated as a village in 1869, and as a city nearly 100 years later in 1968.

Education

The Leslie Public School District is a small, rural district that educates nearly 1,400 students. The new Leslie High School was built in 1996 at 4141 Hull Road, and upgraded the old high school building into the middle school. The old middle school on Woodworth street (which was once a high school) was about 100 years old, and is now abandoned. The school district's mascot is the Leslie Blackhawk and the school colors are orange and black. Leslie's one public school has an average graduating class of between 100 and 130 students. There are currently 3 Physical schools in Leslie: Woodworth Elementary school, Leslie Middle school, and Leslie High School. Also located in Leslie is White Pine Academy, a public school academy that is charted by Saginaw Valley State University White Pine Academy was founded in 1999 by a group of local parents looking for a back-to-basics curriculum and small class sizes. In 2005, White Pine Academy built a new facility at 510 Russell Street. As of June 30, 2023 White pine academy ceased operations, and there are no plans to reopen.

Sports

Varsity sports offered at Leslie include basketball, baseball, football, golf, tennis, cross country, track, soccer and wrestling for the boys and basketball, softball, cheerleading, golf, tennis, cross country, track, soccer and volleyball for the girls. In 2008 the Leslie Blackhawks football team played for the Division VI state championship at Ford Field, but fell short to the Montague Wildcats, 41–20. Distance running has been prominent in Leslie. An annual road race is held in mid-August during the annual Blackhawk Festival at the high school. It runs through the outskirts of the city and finishes on the track. Leslie High School's men's

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

teams have won 14 consecutive conference championships (1990–2003) and one Class C state championship (1993).

Robotics

In 2020 a High school

Calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...

teacher was approached by a FIRST robotics coach from another district at a

quiz bowl Quiz bowl (quizbowl, scholars' bowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, academic team, academic challenge, etc.) is a family of quiz-based competitions that test players on Outline of academic disciplines, a wide variety of academic subjects. Stand ...

event and offered to help start a team, that year 6 students built a 'somewhat functional robot' during

AP Calculus Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus (also known as AP Calc, Calc AB / BC, AB / BC Calc or simply AB / BC) is a set of two distinct Advanced Placement calculus courses and exams offered by the American nonprofit organization College Board. AP Calculu ...

according to a team member at the time. Until the 2022 school year the Robotics team operated out of a small room at Leslie High School, In the summer of 2022 they cleaned out a former work a former workshop room at Leslie Middle School. When tech ed left the middle school offerings, it became a storage room for 20 years. They were able to clean it out and turn it back into a tech education space where it could be used to teach hands on skills. It is now in currently operational as the robotics room for the 8374 FRC team Bongo Bots, and the 21491 FTC team Bongo Bytes, along with several FLL and FLL challenge teams.

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 1,851 people, 690 households, and 490 families residing in the city. 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 803 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.5%

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 ...

, 0.9%

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 ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.5% 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 people of any race were 2.6% of the population. There were 690 households, of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% 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, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.08. The median age in the city was 35.7 years. 28.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.8% were from 25 to 44; 26.1% were from 45 to 64; and 9.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.3% male and 50.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,044 people, 734 households, and 518 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 783 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.04%

, 0.39%

, 0.29% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.98% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races.

or Latino people of any race were 3.38% of the population. There were 734 households, out of which 39.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were

living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.31. In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.4% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $42,700, and the median income for a family was $48,162. Males had a median income of $36,771 versus $22,600 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 city was $18,124. About 4.9% of families and 7.5% 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 8.7% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

* Voltairine de Cleyre, anarchist, writer, and feminist; born in Leslie * Holling Clancy Holling, children's author and illustrator of ''Paddle to the Sea'' and ''Pagoo''; graduated from Leslie High School in 1917 * Arthur J. Tuttle, former U.S. District Judge; born in Leslie * Frank L. White, believed to be the model for the chef on

Cream of Wheat Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina (food), farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat berry, wheat kernels instead of gr ...

boxes; buried in Leslie at Woodlawn Cemetery

References

External links

Official website of the City of Leslie
{{Authority control Cities in Ingham County, Michigan Lansing–East Lansing metropolitan area Populated places established in 1836 1836 establishments in Michigan Territory