Town file
Nashville, Michigan
Nashville, Michigan (Barry County, Michigan) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 161, "Killing On Consignment" (5 March 2020). In 1985, in the rural country west of Nashville, Michigan, a passer-by saw what looked like an animal carcass beside a dirt track off Bevan's Road.
- Town
- Nashville
- County
- Barry County
- State
- Michigan
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 161
- Approximate location
- 42.603, -85.094
Episode 161 / 5 March 2020 / 135 min / full
Killing On Consignment
"We're going all the way to Michigan. Nashville, Michigan... This is in Barry County, B-A-R-R-Y." about 0:05:29
The case: Murder of Rodney Fancher (October 3, 1985). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2020
- Population
- 1,719
- Median age
- about 34
- Median household income
- $34,000 and change
- Median home value
- $107,000
- Two-bedroom rent
- $900 a month
- Cost of living
- about 84
- Religious
- 23%
- Property crime
- ▼ about one third under the national average
- Violent crime
- ▲ almost double the national average
History, in brief
- The initial plot of Nashville was purchased by John R. Pettibone in 1836. about 0:07:13
- In 1865 a later owner platted 127 lots on the south side of the Thorn Apple River. about 0:07:15
- Solomon Fainer got the sawmill running about 1865 and then sold it. about 0:07:50
- A gristmill followed, and the town grew around its grain elevator. about 0:08:01
- In 1873 a grain elevator was built alongside the railroad. about 0:08:28
- In 1916 the flour mill sold what was called red-eye flour. about 0:08:58
- In 1869 the town still had no name; Garudius Nash suggested his own name, and Nashville was the compromise. about 0:09:59
- Nashville was used as a halfway stopping point between the Jackson and Grand Rapids Railroad terminals. about 0:10:16
- Before 1920 trains stopped overnight in Hastings and needed a hostler to tend the locomotives. about 0:10:55
The reviews read out
3 stars
"There are no big businesses, some mom-and-pop shops have poor service, but the restaurants are good; the best are Shirley's Chuck Wagon and R&D's Streetside Pizzeria. The grocery store, the only one between Nashville and Vermontville, has okay prices and very polite staff."about 0:11:32
2 stars
"A former resident would never recommend travelling there except for the ice cream from Mooville, which is the best the reviewer has found anywhere and the only bright spot in a run-down town."about 0:12:22
2 stars
"There are not many jobs available, and when there are openings it takes a long time for employers to get back to applicants."about 0:12:58
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Hastings, Michigan10 miles
- Kalamazoo Township, Michigan34 miles
- Jackson, Michigan43 miles
- Coldwater, Michigan46 miles
- Morrice, Michigan49 miles
- Nunica, Michigan60 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.