“Then-and-Now” Photos of Ovid, Michigan: 1900s-2020s

Located in Clinton County, Ovid’s first settler was Sam Barker in 1836. In 1840, the township was organized and named ‘Ovid’ by Bill Swarthout, who named it after his hometown, Ovid, New York.

One of the early settlers was Jabez Dennison, who was called the “slayer of bears” thanks to his slaughter of nineteen bears.

In 1856, the first store was opened by B.I. Udell; a post office began operating in 1857; the village was platted in 1858 and incorporated in 1869.

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Once incorporated, the village grew. Soon, there was a blacksmith, carriage maker, cooperage, flour mill, foundry, general stores, grocery, hardware shop, a number of hotels, lumber company, sawmill, and tannery.

It was the carriage manufacturer that became the pride of the town - Schafield and Danforth – and every September they are honored with the village’s annual Carriage Day celebration.

Ovid was christened as a city in 2015.

Don’t confuse this Clinton County ‘Ovid’ or ‘Ovid Township’ with the ones in Branch Township. Branch once had a postal stop named ‘Ovid’ that shows up on old maps, but not in atlases (see image in the photo gallery below). Just east of that Ovid, was ‘Ovid Station’, a stop on the railroad, now long gone along with any railroad tracks. All that remains of the Branch County ‘Ovid’ is the township and two churches.

Scroll down a way to see some "then-and-now" images of the Ovid in Clinton County...