In 1837, surveyors found a large hickory tree in the center of section 28, from which the settlement took its name.

Solomon C. Hall built the first house in the town and became the first postmaster in July 1844.

The museum includes the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame.

The Kellogg Biological Station, an off-campus education complex of Michigan State University, has a Hickory Corners mailing address and is located 3 miles (5 km) southwest of the center of town, on the northeast shore of Gull Lake.

On the CBS TV series The Neighborhood, the character Gemma is from Hickory Corners.