 M-212 is the shortest signed state highway in Michigan, beating out the second shortest, M-239, which registers at .M-212 even beats out Michigan's shortest signed business route, Business M-32 in Hillman, which comes in at , only about six-thousandths of a mile longer, or about .M-212 was assigned on December 29, 1937, from the intersection with Second Street to an intersection with US Highway 23 (US 23).