Big Rapids Township, Michigan
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Big Rapids Township is a
charter township A charter township is a form of Local government in the United States, local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. While all townships in Michigan are organized governments, a charter township has been granted a charter, which allows it cert ...
of Mecosta County in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 3,917. The city of
Big Rapids Big Rapids is a city and the county seat, seat of government of Mecosta County, Michigan, United States. The population was 7,727 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 10,601 in 2010 United States census, 2010. The city is sur ...
is surrounded by the charter township but, like all cities in Michigan, is a completely separate jurisdiction from any townships adjacent to it. But whereas cities, as municipal corporations, can cross county lines, civil and charter townships, as administrative divisions of a county, cannot.


History

In February 1858, the Newaygo County Supervisors approved the organization of Green and Leonard townships in the unorganized "paper" county of Mecosta. The Mecosta county government was organized on February 11, 1859, with the village of Leonard as its seat. The Leonard post office changed its name to Big Rapids on September 29, 1859. Thus the June 1, 1860, U.S. Federal Census lists inhabitants of Leonard Township, with their post office as "Big Rapids". In 1865, by act of the Michigan Legislature, the name of Leonard Township was changed to Big Rapids Township.


Geography

The township is in western Mecosta County and is bordered to the west by Newaygo County. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the township has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.40%, are water. The
Muskegon River The Muskegon River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 21, 2011 river in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Fr ...
, a tributary of
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
, flows southward through the eastern part of the township. U.S. Route 131, a four-lane freeway, crosses the township, leading north to
Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...
and south to
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 3,249 people, 1,200 households, and 813 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,287 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 94.06%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.06%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.40% Native American, 1.91% Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.37% from other races, and 1.17% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino residents of any race were 1.02% of the population. There were 1,200 households, out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.02. In the township, 23.0% of the population was under the age of 18, 15.3% was from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $47,933, and the median income for a family was $60,583. Males had a median income of $38,510 versus $30,893 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the township was $22,761. About 6.0% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.


References


External links

* {{Mecosta County, Michigan Townships in Mecosta County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan