Delhi Township, Ingham County, Michigan (MI)

Delhi Township

Ingham County, Michigan

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Delhi Town Hall is located at 2074 Aurelius Road, Holt MI 48842.
Phone: 517‑694‑2136.

Beginnings [1]

The first white settlers in Delhi Charter Township, John Norris and Fred Luther moved into the area in 1836. One of the first school buildings was a log cabin structure built in 1840 on the site of the present Hope Middle School. On February 10, 1860, the post office at Delhi Center was renamed Holt after Joseph Holt, then the U.S. Postmaster General. Politically, the community remained Delhi Township as it is today. It was not until much later, after the schools also became known as Holt and the area began to take on a predominate suburban residential character, that Holt became a more common name than Delhi Township.

In the early years, Holt was a small community with most of its businesses related to farming. Later (1866), the Jackson, Lansing, and Saginaw (Michigan Central) Railroad came through town to provide the first mode of public transportation, other than stagecoaches, to the area. Passengers could embark at the station on Depot Street.

By the turn of the century the education and transportation facilities became more developed. Telephone service was also introduced. However, the area remained largely a corn farming community. In 1907, the interurban, an electric railway, was approved for construction to further connect Township residents with Lansing, Jackson, and on to Detroit. A yellow station was located at the west end of Keller Road.

After World War I, the area began the process of becoming more urbanized. In 1923, both electricity and a fire department were established in the Township. During the Great Depression the urbanization trend was put on hold as people in Delhi Township returned to simple, self-sustaining means like gardening. By the late 1950s, the Township was modernizing with public water, public sewer, and expanded educational facilities, police and fire services. Delhi became a chartered Township on September 18, 1961. Modernization and expansion have transformed Delhi Township from a rural farming community into the lively suburb it is today.

  1. Delhi Charter Township Master Plan, 2007, www.delhitownship.com, accessed August, 2009

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