Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lyons yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lyons Township is a civil township of Ionia County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,513 at the 2020 census. The village of Lyons is mostly within the township. The villages of Muir and Pewamo are also within the township.
Its first post office opened in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 789 to 763 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Lyons in 1916
Passages that mention Lyons, cut from the printed page as they were published.
HISTORY OF IONIA COUNTY MICHIGAN1916 · page 107Read the page →
Read the text
ship of Ronald was organized and took in the west half of township 8 north, range 6 west. On March 22, 1848, sections 22, 27 and 34, in township 7 north, range 6 west, and also so much of that township as lay north of the center of the Grand river, then belonging to the township of Lyons, was attached to the township of Tonia. as was so much of township 7 north, range 6 west, as was then attached to Berlin. On March 13, 1867. mttch of the territory of township 7 north, range 6 west, as was then a i>ortioii ct Lyons, wa> set off to Ionia. The result of these additions and subtractions
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On March 6, 1838, townships 5 and 6 north, in range 5 west, and the cast half of townships 5 and 6 north, in range 6 west, were set off to Portland. On March 30, 1840, the name of the township of Maple was changed to Lyons, the change in name being effected at the instigation of Lucius Lyon, who desired, doubtless, the additional honor of being remembered in the township designation as well as in the name of the village. On February 29, 1844, the township numbered 8 north, in range 5 west, was set off to the township of North Plains, excepting that portion southeast of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Lyons, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1907
