Yankee Springs Township

Yankee Springs Township is the recreational playground of Western Michigan and the home for over 3,800 permanent residents located mostly around the many lakes in the township.

Most of the 36 square miles is forested, and boasts numerous lakes and streams.  Over 15,000 acres of the township are part of the Yankee Springs Recreational Area, that offers camping, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, mountain biking, bicycling and swimming.

The township has one industrial plant, many restaurants, gas stations, gift/specialty ships, and two small mobile home parks.  One bank is located in the township and several more banks serve the area.  Medical and dental clinics serve Yankee Springs and Pennock hospital in Hastings is the nearest medical facility.

The township is served by State Highways M-37 and M-179, Yankee Springs Road and Patterson Road, both primary county roads.
Yankee Springs Township is governed by a five member township board, which meets the second Thursday of each month.  The community is zoned and administered by a Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.

The History of Yankee Springs  

Welcome to the land of Chief Noonday and the Indian tribes of the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi.  Long before the white man arrived, the Indians made this their home ... hunting the wild game, fishing the local lakes and gathering wild foods from the fields and forests.
Yankee Springs received its name in 1835, so history reveals, when a group of settlers came through the area and stopped by a spring to eat their lunch.   As all these folks were from the New England states, hence "Yankees," they decided to name the place Yankee Springs

The next year a young man and his family, William Lewis were traveling through the area, liked it so much, they decided to stay.  He established a hotel called the Mansion house and his business thrived as it was halfway between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.   "Yankee Bill" Lewis' settlement became the largest in Barry County.

Farming was the main occupation, but the sandy soil soon gave out and most farming ended in the 1920's and 30's.  The land lay bare and eroded, the forest was gone, the Indians were placed on reservations, the wildlife disappeared, and the area generally lay in ruin.
In 1934 the U.S. Resettlement Administration began a land rehabilitation program by purchasing approximately 4200 acres.  The National Park Service took charge in 1936 and carried on the program by building campgrounds, group camps, hiking trails, beaches, picnic areas and planting over a million trees.  The State of Michigan took control in 1943 and today they administer over 20,000 acres of the recreation and game area.

This resource provides our citizens many outdoor recreational opportunities and much open space in which to explore.  Large portions of the land have returned to the wilderness the Indians once knew.  Today we enjoy Yankee Springs as a recreation area with 19 lakes, many streams and thousands of acres of public land.  Enjoy!

Yankee Springs Township
Township Hall - 284 N. Briggs Road
Middleville, MI 49333
(269) 795-9091  FAX (269) 795-2388