Hillsdale

Hillsdale, a city and the county-seat of Hillsdale county, Michigan, U.S.A., about 87 m. W. by S. of Detroit. Pop. (1900) 4151, of whom 300 were foreign-born; (1904) 4809; (1910) 5001. Hillsdale is served by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railway. It has a public library, and is the seat of Hillsdale College (co-educational, Free Baptist), which was opened as Michigan Central College, at Spring Arbor, Michigan, in 1844, was removed to Hillsdale and received its present name in 1853 and was re-opened here in 1855. The college in 1907-1908 had 22 instructors and 345 students. The city is a centre for a rich farming region; among its manufactures are gasoline and gas engines, screen doors, wagons, barrels, shoes, fur-coats and flour. Hillsdale was first settled in 1837, was incorporated as a village in 1847, and was chartered as a city in 1869.