Vantown, Ingham County: Was It Once an Actual Town?

It sounds like a vehicle dealership...but it’s not.
It sounds like a town...which it’s not.
It even sounds like it was once a town...and it kind of was.

It’s Vantown – sometimes spelled as “Van Town”, located in the Ingham County countryside. Sitting at a four-corner intersection in White Oak Township, the corners are known today for the Vantown Community Church.

Vantown was named after the Van Buren family, who owned the property on the four corners during the 1800s. The corners were given their own post office and named after the family in 1898; this postal station lasted almost three years, closing in 1901.

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There was a business there, believed to be on the northwest corner of Dietz and Howell Roads. The building on that corner basically took care of all your needs. It was a family-owned grocery store that included a gas station, ice cream shop, meat market, and telephone company. Sadly, that historic little shop is no longer there.

Next time you’re driving in that area – south of Webberville and northeast of Dansville – stop and reflect on this intersection that thrived for a few short years.