City of Clare

Welcome to the

CITY OF CLARE

As an early lumbering town in the heart of Michigan, Clare was first founded on December 30, 1870.  Following the incorporation of Clare as a village in 1879 the first village elections were held at the Town Hall located on the corner of McEwan and Sixth Streets.  The village was then incorporated in 1891 as a Home Rule city.

While many lumbering towns dried up and faded away once the timber had been stripped from the land, Clare remained a viable and vibrant community in part due to its centralized location and access to the railroad but also due to its most valuable resource-its citizens, who have kept the city alive with their business acumen, civic pride, and enduring community support.

The City’s objective is to ensure exemplary stewardship of city resources; promote the health, welfare, and safety of the public sector; and provide a full range of municipal services including water treatment and distribution services, wastewater collection and treatment, road improvement, infrastructure maintenance, parks, recreation, building inspection, police and fire protection & emergency services.

While the City of Clare is indeed a small community encompassing less than 3 square miles and only 3,254 residents, the city’s population more than doubles during the average workday and triples during some holidays and events due to emerging economic development as a result of our business-friendly environment.

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