Town file
Sand Lake, Michigan
Sand Lake, Michigan (Newaygo County, Michigan) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 270, "The Murder Parrot Speaks" (7 April 2022). Sand Lake is a small town in Newaygo County in western Michigan, about half an hour from Grand Rapids and two hours forty minutes from Detroit.
- Town
- Sand Lake
- County
- Newaygo County
- State
- Michigan
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 270
- Approximate location
- 44.329, -83.666
Episode 270 / 7 April 2022 / 165 min / full
The Murder Parrot Speaks
"it's in Newego county ... the actual place is in two different counties, but this took place in Neuego County" about 0:05:54
The case: Murder of Martin 'Marty' Durham (May 2015). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 537
- Median age
- 34
- Median household income
- $34,444
- Median home value
- $214,700
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $932
- Cost of living
- 100
- Religious
- 55%
- Property crime
- ▲ about ten to fifteen percent high
- Violent crime
- ▼ less than one third of the national average
- Violent crime
- ▼ about a quarter of the national average
History, in brief
- The area was founded in 1869. about 0:07:01
- It began as a place people travelled through in the 1800s to fish in Sand Lake, with property owners renting boats and fishing supplies and running rooming houses. about 0:07:12
- Charles Adam bought an old farm rooming house in the northeast corner of the lake and built a hotel in 1872, the Sand Lake Hotel. about 0:08:10
- New owners renamed it the North Shore Hotel in the 1880s and little has changed since. about 0:08:25
- The population has stayed completely steady for about 150 years. about 0:08:40
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A good community foundation where everyone knows everyone, it is not busy, life is slow-paced, and it is a great place to live out in the country."about 0:08:53
4 stars
"Transport is pretty safe and accidents rarely back up traffic, though walking can be difficult because of the steady flow of cars."about 0:09:37
3 stars
"There is only one laundromat and it is questionable, which is the only thing the reviewer would worry about."about 0:10:20
2 stars
"It is very difficult to find a job around here without special connections to someone."about 0:12:38
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Mio, Michigan33 miles
- Onaway, Michigan76 miles
- Washington Township, Michigan82 miles
- Morrice, Michigan106 miles
- Arcadia Township, Michigan127 miles
- Webster Township, Michigan135 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.