Surviving After Two Major Fires: Homer, Michigan

Homer's genesis goes back to 1832 when four guys walked all the way to that area from Pennsylvania. A few months later, here comes Milton Barney from New York. He bought some land along the Kalamazoo River and proceeded to build a hotel, house, sawmill, and store.

Barney's family joined him the following year, in this new village he named “Barneyville”. In 1834, a post office was established and Barney was made postmaster. The post office was named 'Homer', changed by a few settlers who came from Homer, New York. The town's name “Barneyville” was then changed to “Homer”.

Homer was incorporated as a village in 1871.

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Milton Barney was also part of the five-man stock company who built the original mill. After changing hands a couple of times, the mill burned down in 1886. The land was sold to Cortright & Sons who re-built a new mill.

On the morning of May 16, 2010, the historic Homer mill burned down in what was called “the biggest fire in the town's history” since 1943 when the high school was lost in a blaze. The mill fire was so intense, the town had to be patrolled to make sure burning ashes and embers weren't falling on residential and town buildings. They never concluded what started the fire.

One of Homer's claims-to-fame took place from 2004 to 2005. Homer's high school varsity baseball team set the national record for most consecutive wins, a whoppin' 75-game streak.

Now that you know a little about Homer, take a look at some old photos in the gallery below!