Norton Shores is a city in Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan.

[2] The Ojibwe, Bodewadmi and Odawa Native Americans for hundreds of years occupied the wilds of western Michigan.

When European immigrants arrived, they found openings in the forest made by the Native Americans, which were used to raise food.

[citation needed] Norton Township was originally organized in 1845 by settlers of the village of Mill Point (now Spring Lake).

The township was named in honor of Col. Amos Norton, a Canadian patriot who was implicated in the rebellion of 1837.

Also in 1855 the village of Black Lake was settled with a railroad station and a sawmill in Norton Township.

[citation needed] In 1850, Ira Porter arrived at Mona Lake.

With the closing of the sawmills and the box factory, residents turned to raising fruit, which became a very profitable industry.

They would then return to Lake Michigan with their cargo and transfer it to large steamers bound for Chicago.

Hoffmaster State Park is in the western part of the city, occupying forested dune complexes along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

[citation needed] The city offers educational opportunities from the Mona Shores Public Schools to Muskegon Community College, Baker College and Grand Valley State University.

27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.