Custer, MI

Custer is a village in Mason County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2020 census counted 272 residents. The village is located within Custer Township. Prior to European settlers arriving in the area, Native Americans lived near what is now Custer, with a location just south of the city being the site of a battle between the Mascouten and Odawa on the Pere Marquette River. In Custer, history and present-day settings sit close enough to belong to the same local picture. The map tells the story in Custer, where earlier chapters remain visible in current streets, buildings, and gathering places. At the site, known as the Not-A-Pe-Ka-Gon Site, thousands of Mascouten were killed by the Odawa and their heads were placed on sticks, giving the river its original name, "Notipekago" or "Notipekagon", meaning "heads on sticks" in English. Custer is in central Mason County, 3 miles east of Scottville and 11 miles east of Ludington, the county seat.