The History of Kingsley

The Village of Kingsley has a unique historical past. Some of our heritage has been written down in the "History of Kingsley" found in our local library. Kingsley and the village of Paradise were incorporated as the village of Kingsley in 1894.  Kingsley at that time had a population of 800 people.

Kingsley became a booming lumber town when the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad ran a line through it for harvesting lumber. A large number of lumber industries in town including sawmills, lumber mills, shingle and planing mills.  In addition to these we had broom, barrel, chair, casket and pickle factories. There were five saloons balanced by five churches, three hotels.  Numerous general stores and businesses like blacksmiths, a bakery and other smaller stores called Kingsley home. We also had two weekly newspapers, three doctors, six dentists and a three-story hospital.  Not bad for a "little" town. Potatoes were a major crop after the lumber era faded.
 
History records that Kingsley suffered two major fires.  The first was in July 1894. This fire burned nearly the entire Village. The second fire in 1900 burned a solid block. Smaller fires followed several years later. Despite these setbacks Kingsley bounced back and continued to grow and thrive.


Paradise Township total population of: 4,191 (2000 Census)

Size: 53 square miles (2000 Census).

More demographic information on Grand Traverse County