Munising Township, Michigan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location of Shingleton, Michigan

Munising Township is a civil township of Alger County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 3,125.

[edit] Communities

The City of Munising is at the northwest corner of the township, but is a municipality governed independently of the township. There are several historic locales and unincorporated communities in the township:

Doty is a locale at the junction of the former Marquette & Eastern Railway (now the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad) and the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway (now the Soo Line) at 46°21′46″N, 86°32′07″W. It was named after Marcus A. Doty, a manager for the Marquette & Eastern. The station is called Evelyn on the Soo Line. ^[1] ^[2]
Juniper is a place at 46°21′29″N, 86°35′25″W. ^[3]
Indian Town is a place at 46°24′32″N, 86°33′47″W. ^[4]
Melstrand is an unincorporated community at 46°27′47″N, 86°24′55″W, about eleven miles east of Munising on county road H-58. It was a sawmill village with a railway station and a post office that operated from July 1917 until February 1926. ^[1] ^[5]
Myren is a place at 46°25′34″N, 86°25′38″W.^[6]
Shingleton is an unincorporated community at 46°20′54″N, 86°28′13″W, about ten miles (16 km) southeast of Munising, at the eastern junction of M-28 and M-94. West of Shingleton, M-28 and M-94 run concurrently until about a mile south of Munising. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources operates the Cusino Wildlife Research Station & Field Office in Shingleton. Camp Cusino, a minimum security state prison, has a Shingleton address about four miles north of town. The ZIP Code is 49884. Shingleton was a station on the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Railway named "Jeromeville" in 1882, after David H. Jerome, then the governor of Michigan (1881-1883). A post office was established in 1887 named Shingleton, after the local shingle mill. ^[1] ^[7]
Star is a place at 46°20′34″N, 86°53′11″W. ^[8]
Van Meer is a place at 46°25′10″N, 86°28′11″W. ^[9]
Wetmore is an unincorporated community at 46°22′47″N, 86°37′13″W, about two miles southeast of Munising, on M-28/M-94. The ZIP Code is 49895. Wetmore began as mostly Indian settlement called "Floeter", and had a post office with that name from 1883 to 1889 (with short interruptions). In October 1889, it was renamed "Munising" (the present city of Munising was known as "Old Munising" at the time). It was a station on the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway. William L. Wetmore arrived in about 1871 and built up a business making hardwood charcoal and a general store. The town and post office were renamed for him in 1895. ^[1] ^[10]

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 563.8 km² (217.7 mi²). 524.7 km² (202.6 mi²) of it is land and 39.1 km² (15.1 mi²) of it (6.94%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 3,125 people, 828 households, and 669 families residing in the township. The population density was 6.0/km² (15.4/mi²). There were 1,154 housing units at an average density of 2.2/km² (5.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 73.02% White, 18.98% African American, 4.29% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.86% from other races, and 2.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.54% of the population.

There were 828 households out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.0% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families. 14.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the township the population was spread out with 20.1% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 39.5% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 179.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 206.9 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $40,946, and the median income for a family was $45,114. Males had a median income of $38,649 versus $24,167 for females. The per capita income for the township was $17,448. About 5.4% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.