Blair 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 Grand Traverse 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 had a population of 8,994, an increase from 8,209 at the 2010 census. The township lies about south of

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...

, the largest city in

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...

. Because of this proximity, much of the north of Blair Township is developed, especially within the township-administered communities of Chums Corner and Grawn, while much of the south of the township is

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

in nature. Blair Township is the location of

Turtle Creek Stadium Turtle Creek Stadium (formerly Pit Spitters Park and Wuerfel Park) is a 4,660-seat multi-use entertainment facility in Blair Township, Michigan, in the United States. It hosted its first regular season baseball game on May 24, 2006 as the tenant ...

, the home stadium for the

Traverse City Pit Spitters The Traverse City Pit Spitters are a baseball team in the Northwoods League, a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league, and began play in the 2019 season. Based out of Traverse City, Michigan, the Pit Spitters play their hom ...

, a collegiate summer baseball team.

History

The territory of Blair Township has historically been part of territory under the

Council of Three Fires The Council of Three Fires (in , also known as the People of the Three Fires; the Three Fires Confederacy; or the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi Indians) is a long-standing Anishinaabe alliance of the Ojibwe (or Chippewa), O ...

(

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long prec ...

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

, and

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

). In 1853, Traverse Township was organized, and comprised all of Grand Traverse County excluding the

Old Mission Peninsula Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

. In April 1867, Blair Township was organized from the section of Traverse Township at 26 north, range 11 west. The township is named for

Austin Blair Austin Blair (February 8, 1818 – August 6, 1894) was a politician who served as the 13th governor of Michigan during the American Civil War and in Michigan's House of Representatives and Senate as well as the U.S. Senate. He was known a ...

, who served as

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

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 (0.95%) is water. The township's largest lake is Silver Lake, which it shares with Garfield Township. The

Boardman River The Boardman River ( '), also known as the Ottaway River ( ') or the Boardman–Ottaway River, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed November 21, 2011 river in the north ...

briefly flows through the northeast of the township.

Adjacent townships

* Garfield Township (north) * East Bay Township (northeast) * Paradise Township (southeast) * Mayfield Township (south) * Grant Township (southwest) * Green Lake Township (west) * Long Lake Township (northwest)

Major highways

* runs north–south and east–west through the northwest of the township. The highway continues west toward Interlochen and

Benzie County Benzie County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,970. The county seat is Beulah. The county was initially set off in 1863 and organized in 1869.

, and runs north to

. * runs north–south through the township. To the south, M-37 continues toward Buckley and Mesick, and to the north with US 31 to Traverse City.

Communities

*Beitner is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

located at . Beitner, founded in 1878, was the location of a lumber mill west of the

, and was given a station on the

Chicago and West Michigan Railway The Chicago and West Michigan Railway (C&WM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan between 1881 and 1899. * Chums Corner is 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 ...

where US 31 meets M-37. * Grawn is a census-designated place where US 31 meets Silver Lake Road. *Hilltop is an unincorporated community at . *Keystone is a ghost town at . Keystone was established in 1874 as a station on the

Chicago and West Michigan Railway The Chicago and West Michigan Railway (C&WM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan between 1881 and 1899.Boardman River The Boardman River ( '), also known as the Ottaway River ( ') or the Boardman–Ottaway River, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed November 21, 2011 river in the north ...

. Keystone was given a post office in 1883, upon the relocation of the post office from Beitner. The office lasted until 1894, until another post office, from Slights, relocated in 1901, lasting until 1908. *Monroe Center 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 ...

located on the border with Green Lake Township at . Monroe Center was established by William and Pauline Monroe, who purchased in the area in 1859, making it Blair Township's oldest settlement. A post office at Monroe Center lasted from 1866 until 1910. *Slights (occasionally spelled Sleights, as is spelled on a nearby road) is a ghost town located at . Slights was founded as a station on the Chicago and West Michigan Railway south of

, near the Boardman River. A post office was open at Slights from 1893 until 1895, and briefly again in 1898. *The downtown district of

lies about north of Blair Township.

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 6,448 people, 2,295 households, and 1,684 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,482 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 94.70%

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 ...

, 0.25%

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 ...

, 1.64% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 1.52% from other races, and 1.46% 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 2.48% of the population. There were 2,295 households, out of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% 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, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.18. In the township the population was spread out, with 30.1% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 35.5% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 6.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $40,125, and the median income for a family was $42,740. Males had a median income of $30,020 versus $19,885 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 $14,745. About 7.2% of families and 11.0% 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 11.4% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Notable person

Chasten Buttigieg Chasten James Glezman Buttigieg ( ; ; born June 23, 1989) is an American teacher, author, and LGBTQ movements, LGBTQ activist. He is married to Pete Buttigieg, the former United States Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Secretary of Transportati ...

, former first gentleman of

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

, and husband of

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...

, was raised in Chums Corner.

References

External links

Blair Township
{{authority control Townships in Grand Traverse County, Michigan Townships in Michigan Traverse City metropolitan area