Town file
Nunica, Michigan
Nunica, Michigan (Ottawa County, Michigan) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 532, "Battle Of The Neighbors - Crockery Township, Michigan" (28 September 2024). Crockery Township sits in Ottawa County in western Michigan, about thirty minutes outside Grand Rapids, and the story belongs to Nunica, a hamlet of roughly 350 people inside the township.
- Town
- Nunica
- County
- Ottawa County
- State
- Michigan
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 532
- Approximate location
- 43.085, -86.075
Episode 532 / 28 September 2024 / 70 min / express
Battle Of The Neighbors - Crockery Township, Michigan
"We are going to Crockery Township, Michigan ... the small town we'll be talking about is Nunica ... this is in Ottawa county, about 30 minutes outside of Grand Rapids" about 0:03:14
The case: Murder of Sheila Bong (December 26, 2017). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2024
- Median household income
- $81,161
- Median home value
- $235,800
- Police interactions in 2016
- ▲ at least 13
- Police visits for neighbourhood disputes, 2014 to 2017
- ▲ 54 times in three years
- Protection order requests denied by judges
- ▲ five times
- Times prosecutors declined to charge Sheila
- ▲ at least twice
History, in brief
- Nunica means pottery or earthenware; quantities of Ottawa pottery were found near the mouth of Nunica Creek, which gave Crockery Township and Crockery Creek their names. about 0:04:25
- The first European settlers in the area were French Canadians, a father and son passing through, likely trappers. about 0:05:15
- Zinc was found in the area in 1858. about 0:05:26
- Nunica was officially incorporated in 1872; one website says the name comes from the Ottawa word for zinc. about 0:05:47
- There were about a thousand people in the area in 1880. about 0:06:00
- By 1924 there was no zinc left. about 0:06:04
- A big influenza outbreak in 1927 killed almost 800 people from this town. about 0:06:10
- The 1930 census showed about five thousand people here. about 0:06:32
- In 1935 about a third of Nunica was destroyed by the great Nunica fire, which was speculated to have started when the Nunica train station was struck by lightning and caught fire. about 0:06:36
- The train station was never rebuilt and the town never recovered from the fire. about 0:07:13
- By 1950 there were only a thousand people there. about 0:07:25
- By 1957 the town was unincorporated. about 0:07:35
- Currently there are about 350 people left there. about 0:07:45
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Christine says the service and food were wonderful, drinks were never empty, portions were perfect, and the bacon candy melts in your mouth; she lives two hours away but will drive back to eat there."about 0:08:05
1 star
"Scott complains of cold crappy housemade chips, angry, rude, unfriendly and unhelpful bar staff, and says he did not order an entree because the bartender was so unfriendly."about 0:08:32
1 star
"Pat says the restaurant does not like people in wheelchairs, has no accessible entrance or ramps, and that owners and managers make excuses."about 0:09:17
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Hastings, Michigan50 miles
- Nashville, Michigan60 miles
- Kalamazoo Township, Michigan61 miles
- Grafton, Wisconsin96 miles
- Coldwater, Michigan96 miles
- Morrice, Michigan97 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.