Brief History of Delta Township

The beginning of Delta Township dates back to 1837 when the Ingersoll family settled in the area of present day Delta Mills. That area, at the west end of Delta River Drive ,  was originally plotted as Grand River City . By the time Lansing was designated at the Capitol city in 1847, Grand River City already had a post office, rail road station and saw mill. At the beginning of 1847, Lansing only had a dam and a log cabin over in the Old Town area.

There were also two other settlements around that time in Delta Township. One was near Waverly and Old Lansing Road, called Millett. This was a railroad stop. The other was at the corner of St. Joseph and Canal. That is where the township hall was until the mid 1900’s when they moved it to the corner of Saginaw and Canal. .  By 1887, the area was mainly supported by farming, gristmills, and sawmills.  The clapboard township hall was erected in the mid 1870's and served the township until 1955.

The two main cemeteries are Hillside on Delta River Drive and Delta Center on St. Joe. Hillside dates back to the Ingersoll’s in the 1840’s. It also has Indian graves because it is on the old Indian trail to Grand Rapids. Delta Center has graves dating before the Civil War. Many of Delta Townships Civil War soldiers are buried there