Editing Kimball Township, Michigan (section)

==Communities==
There are a few [[unincorporated community|unincorporated communities]] within the township:<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Clair County|url=http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CGI_COUNTY-v4_ST_125304_7._CLAIR_COUNTY.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060510090413/http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CGI_COUNTY-v4_ST_125304_7._CLAIR_COUNTY.pdf |archive-date=2006-05-10 |url-status=live|work=County Maps|publisher=Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget|access-date=1 February 2012}}</ref> 
* '''Kimball''' is near the center of the township at Ditty and Dove Roads just east of North Pine River Road ({{Coord|42|56|53|N|82|33|45|W|}}; Elevation: 636&nbsp;ft./194 m.).<ref>{{gnis|1624643|Kimball, Michigan}} & [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gazpublic/getgooglemap?p_lat=42.9480851&p_longi=-82.5624192&fid=1624643 GNIS in Google Map]</ref> Land purchases were made as early as 1825 but settlement did not begin until about 1840 when Barzillai Wheeler and John S. Kimball arrived. When the township was organized in 1855, it was named for Kimball. It was a station on the Port Huron and Northwestern Railway in 1882 and was given a post office as "Kimbal" in December 1882. The spelling was corrected to Kimball in January 1889 and the office closed in June 1908.<ref name="Romig">{{cite book | last = Romig | first = Walter  | year = 1986 | title = Michigan Place Names | orig-year= 1973 | publisher = Wayne State University Press | location = Detroit, Michigan | isbn = 0-8143-1838-X}}</ref>
* '''Smiths Creek''' is at the southwestern corner of Kimball Township and the northern portion of [[St. Clair Township, Michigan|Saint Clair Township]] on the Smiths Creek tributary of the Pine River at {{Coord|42|54|50|N|82|36|14|W|}}.<ref>{{gnis|1624935|Smiths Creek, Michigan}}</ref> Both the community and the stream were named for Elisha Smith, an early landowner. A post office was established in October 1861. It was given a station on the [[Grand Trunk Railroad]] line in 1865. Smiths Creek was the [[county seat]] of St. Clair County from 1869 until April 1871, when it was removed to [[Port Huron, Michigan|Port Huron]].<ref name="Romig"/> The St. Clair County Sanitary Landfill is located in Smiths Creek.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} Smiths Creek is said to be where [[Thomas Edison]] was kicked off the train, because of his experiments.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} The train depot is now at Greenfield Village, a part of [[the Henry Ford]].{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} The Smiths Creek [[ZIP code]], 48074, serves all of Kimball Township.<ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MapItDrawServlet?geo_id=86000US48074&_bucket_id=50&tree_id=420&context=AdvSearch&_lang=en Digit ZCTA, 480 3-Digit ZCTA - Reference Map - American FactFinder]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, U.S. Census Bureau, 200 census</ref>
* '''Sparlingville''' is on the west side of the township at Allen and Griswold Roads ({{Coord|42|57|52|N|82|31|23|W|}}; Elevation: 653&nbsp;ft./199 m.).<ref>{{gnis|1624946|Sparlingville, Michigan}}</ref> It was founded by George Sparling, a builder and land developer ''circa'' 1923.<ref name="Romig"/> Sparlingville was at one time an incorporated area.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} The Kimball Township hall is located near Sparlingville, the fire hall, library, and Sparlingville Elementary are located in the community.
*[[Thornton, Michigan|Thornton]], also spelled Thorton, is on the boundary with Wales Township.
* '''Wadhams''' is in the northeast corner of the township at Wadhams and Lapeer roads ({{Coord|42|59|14|N|82|32|19|W|}} ; Elevation: 669&nbsp;ft. /204 m.).<ref>{{gnis|1624997|Wadhams, Michigan}}</ref> In 1825, Scotsman Robert Smart, with the backing of Detroit interests, built a mill on the [[Black River (St. Clair River tributary)|Black River]]. He named the place "Clyde Mills", after the [[River Clyde]] in [[Scotland]], where Smart had lived as a boy. In 1827, Smart sold the mill to Ralph Wadhams. A post office with the name Clyde Mills operated from March 1835 until December 1872. [[Clyde Township, St. Clair County, Michigan|Clyde Township]] was organized in March 1836 and took its name from the settlement. When first organized, Clyde Township encompassed the area of what are now 20 townships. When Kimball Township was set off in 1855, the settlement by which Clyde Township derived its name became part of a different township; a fact with reportedly greatly disappointed Ralph Wadhams. A post office was operated with the name "Wadhams" from June 1886 through October 1887, and again from February 1890 until October 1905.<ref name="Romig"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Fuller |first=George N. |title=Local history and personal sketches of St. Clair and Shiawassee counties. |orig-year=1926? |url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ARH7752.0001.001 |access-date=2007-05-01 |year=2005 |publisher=University of Michigan Library |location=Ann Arbor, Mich. |pages=45 |chapter=History of St. Clair County |chapter-url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;idno=ARH7752.0001.001;didno=ARH7752.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000041}}</ref> Wadhams has experienced many new developments due to its proximity to [[Interstate 69 in Michigan|Interstate 69]] (I-69) and Old [[M-21 (Michigan highway)|M-21]] (the former route of M-21.)
*'''West Tappan''' is located south of Wadhams and I-69 on Wadhams Road at the rail tracks ({{Coord|42|58|13|N|82|32|36|W|}} ; Elevation: 659&nbsp;ft./201 m.) <ref>{{gnis|1625015|West Tappan, Michigan}} 7 [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gazpublic/getgooglemap?p_lat=42.9703071&p_longi=-82.5432525&fid=1625015  Google Map]</ref>