Dimondale Map
Dimondale is a village in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,342 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Windsor Charter Township. Dimondale is a suburb of Lansing, Michigan, which is northeast of the village in Ingham County, Michigan. The village is often misspelled as Diamondale.
Potowatomie Indians originally had a permanent camp along the Grand River in the Dimondale area before white settlement began in the 1830s. Relations between white settlers (most of whom were from New York and New England) and the Potowatomie were generally cordial with local residents permanently deeding 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land near the river to the local Indians. The local band held the deed to the leased land until the Potowatomie were forced west by the Indian Removal Act. Isaac M. Dimond came to the area in 1848 and, as one of his enterprises, in 1850 began to construct a dam, just east of Silver Creek on the Grand River near the center of section 15. By 1852, the dam was completed and a saw mill was in operation. He built a grist mill in 1856. On August 6, 1856, Hosey Harvey surveyed the village in order for Dimond to have it platted with the name "Dimondale". A post office named "East Windsor" had been established in the eastern part of Windsor Township in about 1860. This office was transferred to Dimondale and renamed in 1872. In 1878 the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway came through and the area was given a station referring to it as Dimondale. In 1906, Dimondale incorporated as a village.
From 1929 to 1963, Dimondale had its own high school, until it merged with the Holt School District. This occurred after the school district ran into tax issues due to the sparse business landscape in the village. The final Superintendent for Dimondale was Harvey E. Wood, a school administrator who later moved to Holt's system as the Transportation Manager, then eventually to Ingham Intermediate School District (IISD) as Vice Superintendent. Dimondale almost merged with the Eaton Rapids School district, however due to Mr. Wood's prior mentor/student relationship with Holt's Superintendent (Maurice Pernert), the merge with Holt's school system took place.
Nearby cities include Charlotte, Mason, East Lansing, Okemos, Eagle.