Unattended Death and Biohazard Cleanup in Homer, MI

Homer is a village in Homer Township, Calhoun County, in south-central Michigan, part of the Battle Creek Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its official motto is "Homer is home."

Milton Barney arrived from Lyons, New York, in 1832 and platted the settlement as Barneyville on the south bank of the Kalamazoo River, building a store, a sawmill, and a hotel.

When a post office was registered in 1834, Barneyville was renamed Homer at the request of the many settlers who had moved there from Homer in Cortland County, New York; the village incorporated in 1871.

Homer had a population of 1,575 at the 2020 census, living in 636 households across the village's 1.44 square miles.

The Homer High School varsity baseball team set the national record for most consecutive wins with a 75-game winning streak spanning the 2004 and 2005 seasons, won state championships in 2004 and 2006, and was featured on ESPN's 50 States in 50 Days.

In the early morning of May 16, 2010, the town's landmark "new" Homer mills burned to the ground — the biggest fire in the village since the high school burned in 1943, drawing help from seven neighboring fire departments.

The original "old" Homer mills were built in 1837–1838 by a stock company that included founder Milton Barney.

Before the forced removals of 1840 under the Indian Removal Act, Potawatomi people under chiefs including Ne-au-to-beer-saw lived alongside Homer's settlers, and settler and Native children often played together.

Olympic gold medalist kayaker Greg Barton and Major League Baseball pitcher Josh Collmenter both come from Homer.

Homer is served by the Homer Community Schools district, which also draws many students from surrounding towns through Michigan's schools-of-choice program.