Bark River Township is a

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a County (United States), county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England town, Ne ...

of Delta 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 ...

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 1,595, slightly up from 1,578 at the 2010 census. The township takes its name from the Bark River.

Communities

*Bark River is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

within the township, near the Bark River at . It is situated on US-2 and

US-41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miam ...

, about 11 miles west of

Escanaba Escanaba ( ), commonly shortened to Esky, is a port city and the county seat of Delta County, Michigan, Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula. The popu ...

and just east of the

Hannahville Indian Community The Hannahville Indian Community is a federally recognized Potawatomi tribe residing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, approximately west of Escanaba on a reservation. The reservation, at , lies mostly in Harris Township in eastern Menominee ...

. The ZIP code is 49807. *Schaffer is an unincorporated community within the township, north of the Bark River at . It is situated on M-69, about 14 miles northwest of Escanaba. The ZIP code is 49807.

Geography

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 is land and (0.13%) is water.

Climate

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 1,650 people, 612 households, and 479 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 680 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 95.09%

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 ...

, 0.12%

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 ...

, 2.67% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.24% from other races, and 1.52% 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 of any race were 0.18% of the population. There were 612 households, out of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.5% 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, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.05. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $41,477, and the median income for a family was $45,221. Males had a median income of $32,083 versus $23,188 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 $16,649. About 3.7% of families and 5.8% 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 6.3% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

It is in the Bark River-Harris School District.

Transportation

Indian Trails Indian Trails is an intercity bus operator primarily serving the U.S. state of Michigan, with routes also serving Wisconsin and Minnesota. Indian Trails is based in Owosso, Michigan, with offices in Romulus, East Lansing, and Kalamazoo. His ...

provides daily intercity bus service via Bark River between St. Ignace and

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...

References

{{authority control Townships in Delta County, Michigan Townships in Michigan