Baraga Township, Michigan

Baraga Township is a civil township of Baraga County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 3,542. The village of Baraga is located in the southeast corner of the township.

Communities

• Arnheim is an unincorporated community at .^[3] Arnheim was a station on the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway, approximately midway between L'Anse and Houghton. Storekeeper Martin Erikson became the first postmaster on November 13, 1900. The office closed on in either 1915 or 1916^[4] and reopened from August 15, 1917 until September 30, 1951.^[5][6]
• Assinins is an unincorporated community at .^[7] Assinins was founded in 1843 by the missionary Frederic Baraga, who named it for an Assiniboin chief Baraga had converted and who remained Baraga's devoted friend. In the 1870s, the settlement was known as the "Catholic Mission". The first post office in the area was named "Fewsville", after the Few family. Gershom B. Few operated a distillery and George W. Few became the first postmaster on September 22, 1875. The office closed in 1877. It reopened as "Assinins" on December 6, 1894 with Simon Denomie as the first postmaster and discontinued on May 31, 1914.^[5][8]
• Baraga is a village at the junction of US-41 and M-38 in the east central portion of the township. The Baraga ZIP code 49908 serves a region in the central part of the township.^[9]
• Bear Town is named place on US-41 north of Baraga at .^[10]
• Keweenaw Bay is an unincorporated community at .^[11] A land patent was issued to Frank Laffrenire by U.S. President Ulysses S Grant on May 10, 1875. The settlement was at first known as "Leffenire" until 1898. Annie La Fernier became the first postmaster on March 26, 1898, with the office named "La Fernier". However Annie had it changed on June 1, 1901 to the name of the large bay on which the village was located. The post office was discontinued on January 16, 1976 and became a CPO of Baraga. It was also a station on the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway. Keweenaw (kewawenon) was a Native American word for portage.^[5][12]
• Pelkie is an unincorporated community in the northeast part of the township. The Pelkie ZIP code 49958 serves areas in the northern and northwestern parts of the township.^[13]
• Covington is to the southeast, and the Covington ZIP code 49919 serves an area in the southeast part of the township.^[14]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 187.3 square miles (485 km²), of which, 185.6 square miles (481 km²) of it is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) of it (0.88%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 3,542 people, 1,178 households, and 777 families residing in the township. The population density was 19.1 per square mile (7.4/km²). There were 1,455 housing units at an average density of 7.8 per square mile (3.0/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 67.56% White, 12.11% African American, 14.00% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.48% from other races, and 5.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.19% of the population. 28.3% were of Finnish, 9.6% German and 8.8% French ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 1,178 households out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the township the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 136.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 147.9 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $32,639, and the median income for a family was $41,750. Males had a median income of $32,373 versus $23,516 for females. The per capita income for the township was $14,550. About 8.2% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.0% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

References