Cleon Township is located in the northeast corner of Manistee County, farthest
from the County seat of Manistee. The township’s northeast corner represents the point
where 4 counties meet. The southeastern border is the county line between Manistee County and Wexford County. The northeast border is the county line between Manistee County and Grand Traverse County. The northwest border is the county line between
Manistee County and Benzie County.

Early settlers arrived in Cleon Township in 1865 to homestead. With the creation of a railroad, many villages sprang up in the area.
Shortly after Cleon Township was settled, Wexford County established its courthouse in Sherman, north of Mesick. This was closer to Cleon Township than the Manistee County seat, so in 1868 Cleon Township was transferred to Wexford County. In 1881 Cleon Township became part of Manistee County again. In February of 1891, the Village of Copemish incorporated and was the first village to incorporate in Manistee County. Children from the area attend Mesick Consolidated Schools or Benzie County Schools. Transportation patterns have changed, with the four railroads going out of use and Cadillac Highway (M-115) bypassing the village.

Located in Cleon Township is the Village of Copemish, a typical small town with a gas station, hardware store, bank, beauty salon,
auto repair shop, MR Products and a manufacturing plant. Cleon Township was first a lumbering settlement, then with the overabundance of good farmland, became an agricultural community. It is now largely defined as a bedroom community, approximately 30 miles in either direction from larger population centers such as Traverse City, Manistee and Cadillac.