Stanton, MI

Stanton is the seat of Montcalm County, a city organized in 1860 after county voters moved the seat from Greenville. The city counted 1,285 residents in the 2020 census, so county offices sit within a small municipal base. The first settlement was called Fred for landowner Fred Hall; it was renamed Stanton in 1863, platted in 1865, and incorporated as a city in 1881. Stanton occupies parts of four townships in central Montcalm County, giving the county seat a boundary shaped by several surrounding communities.

That administrative role remains visible in the present-day city. County facilities and office buildings sit within Stanton, while the city operates under a commission-manager form of government. Its downtown hosts parades and an annual festival, and the Central Montcalm school system provides the local K–12 connection. The city also lies seven miles from Montcalm Community College's main campus, linking county-seat routines with nearby postsecondary education. Stanton's working map joins county government, downtown events, schools, and surrounding agricultural land.