Shields 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 ...

in Thomas Township,

Saginaw County Saginaw County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 190,124. The county seat is Saginaw. The county was created by September 10, 1822, and was fully organized on February 9, 1835. The ...

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, ...

. It is also a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) for statistical purposes, but with no legal status as an incorporated municipality. The population of the CDP was 7,035 at the 2020 census. The community of Shields is located on M-46/Gratiot Road just west of the

Tittabawassee River The Tittabawassee River ( ) flows in a generally southeasterly direction through the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The river begins at Secord Lake in Clement Township, at the confluence of the East Branch and the Middle Branch ...

. In the 2000 census, the CDP included an area bounded on the east by the Tittabawassee River, north to State Street, west to N. Miller Road, south to Geddes Road, west to N. Thomas Road, south to M-46/Gratiot Road, east to Swan Creek, south to the railroad crossing on Schomaker Road, east along the rail tracks to Stroebel Road, northwest to Ronald Drive and east to the Tittabawassee River. Most of the CDP is within Thomas Township with a small portion extending into northwest James Township.

History

A post office operated in Shields from August 15, 1894 until Dec 15, 1902. The Shields brothers William and Arthur were born in 1826 and 1830 respectively in

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, Ireland. Along with their family, they immigrated to Michigan settling in Thomas Township in 1842. The bachelor brothers settled on in section three. Eventually the southeastern part of the Township came to be known as the Shields area. Paines is a place within James Township and the CDP located on Dutch Road between River Roads and Stroebel Roads.Saginaw County Map.
J. Shively. State of Michigan Department of Information Technology Technology Center for Geographic Information. September 2007. Paines was first settled in 1871 and named for A. B. Paine, a local brick manufacturer. It was a station at the junction of the

Michigan Central Michigan Central Station (MCS, also known as Michigan Central Depot) is the historic former main intercity passenger rail station in Detroit, Michigan. Built for the Michigan Central Railroad, it replaced the original depot in downtown Detro ...

and the Pere Marquette rail lines. A post office named "Painesville" was established on October 10, 1873, closed on May 29, 1876, and reopened on July 14, 1876. The office was renamed "Paines" on October 19, 1880 and continued until June 30, 1904.

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 CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (1.06%) is water.

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 6,590 people, 2,508 households, and 1,875 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 2,587 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.74%

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 ...

, 0.80%

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 ...

, 0.27% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.74% from other races, and 0.93% 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 3.32% of the population. There were 2,508 households, out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.4% 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, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.98. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males. As of the

of 2010, the median income for a household in the CDP was $52,457, and the median income for a family was $62,566. Males working full-time and year-round had a median income of $44,018 versus $39,471 for full-time, year-round working 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 CDP was $24,397. About 4.4% of families and 4.7% 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 5.1% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.United States Census
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References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Saginaw County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Saginaw County, Michigan