Bitely, Michigan

Bitely (which, due to a typographical error, is sometimes misspelled Biteley)[2] is an unincorporated community within Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It also extends into Lake County as well. It is within Lilley Township about one mile west of M-37 in the Manistee National Forest. It is near Bitely Lake, Lamoreaux Lake, Isaac Lake, Houseman Lake and several smaller lakes.

Bitely, Michigan
Unincorporated community
Bitely Location within the state of Michigan
Coordinates: 43°44′49″N 85°51′42″W
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Newaygo
Township	Lilley
Elevation [1]	866 ft (264 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code(s)	231
GNIS feature ID	1619222[1]

It was a station on the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad (later the Pere Marquette, then the Chesapeake and Ohio, now Marquette Rail) in 1889, and given a post office on September 13, 1889, with Archer D. Martin as its first postmaster. It was named for Steven Bitely, who built a sawmill there, but due to a typographical error, the post office was initially spelled as Biteley.[2]

Bitely is located at 43°44′49″N 85°51′42″W.[1] The Bitely ZIP code is 49309, and the same ZIP code also serves all of Lilley Township, most of Troy Township to the west, Home Township to the east, portions of Beaver Township to the southwest, Merrill Township to the south, Monroe Township to the southeast, Pleasant Plains Township to the north, and Yates Township to the northeast.[3]

The Bitely Homecoming parade is held the third Saturday of every July.

Bitely is also home to the Bitely Booze Olympics, founded in 2009, on Walk-up Lake.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bitely, Michigan
2. Romig, Walter (1986) [1973]. Michigan Place Names. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1838-X.
3. 49309 5-Digit ZCTA, 493 3-Digit ZCTA - Reference Map - American FactFinder, U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census