page_title: Okemos, Michigan
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Okemos, Michigan / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Northbound Okemos Road in downtown Okemos, Michigan, near Hamilton Road intersection.
context_page_description: Okemos is an unincorporated community in Meridian Charter Township, Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place for statistical purposes and does not have any separate legal existence as a municipality. Local government is provided by the township. The population was 21,369 at the 2010 census.
  The Okemos Public Schools system includes Okemos and some immediate surrounding areas. The nickname of the school's sports teams is the Chiefs.
context_section_description: The settlement of Hamilton was founded in 1839 by Freeman Bray as a trading point with the surrounding Ojibwe people and as a farming community. In 1859, one year following the death of Chief John Okemos (on whose treaty lands the community was built), the area was renamed to honor the Native American chief. "Okemos" is from the Ojibwa ogimaa "chief" plus -s, the diminutive, thus "little chief".
  It was originally a farming community, but has been entirely absorbed as a Lansing suburb, and is a popular residence community for employees of Michigan State University.
caption: Four Corners of Okemos, Michigan
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