Wheatland Township, Minnesota
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wheatland Township is a township located in the northwest corner of Rice County, Minnesota. The population was 1,358 at the 2000 census.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 89.7 km² (34.7 mi²). 87.5 km² (33.8 mi²) of it is land and 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²) of it (2.51%) is water.
[edit] Towns
The largest city in the township is Lonsdale, Minnesota in the southeast corner of the township. Lonsdale was platted by the railroad when it went through in 1902. Originally the railroad was supposed to go through Veseli (named after a town in the Czech Republic and spelled Wessely in the early years) but the route was changed at the last minute. Veseli did not get a paved road to the village until 1970. The township was originally populated by a small French Canadian group that was replaced by immigrants from southern Bohemia starting as early as 1860. There was a third village, Wheatland, located on the northeast corner of Lake Cody along the southern border of the township. While some maps still show its location, today it is composed of a handful of small homes and no business section remains.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 1,358 people, 437 households, and 370 families residing in the township. The population density was 15.5/km² (40.2/mi²). There were 444 housing units at an average density of 5.1/km² (13.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 99.04% White, 0.15% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.22% Asian, and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 437 households out of which 48.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.4% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.3% were non-families. 11.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.36.
In the township the population was spread out with 33.7% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 113.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.5 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $54,286, and the median income for a family was $60,074. Males had a median income of $39,861 versus $29,063 for females. The per capita income for the township was $20,402. About 2.5% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.1% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.
