A township in some states of the United States is a small geographic area.
28-570: Michigantown is a town in Michigan Township , Clinton County , Indiana , United States. The population was 467 at the 2010 census . The town was named for the Michigan Road , an early thoroughfare through the area. Joseph Hill and Robert Edwards platted Michigantown in 1830 with lots on both sides of the Michigan Road; additions made in 1874 and 1876 by William Lowden added more lots to
56-764: A county . The township is identified by a name, such as Penn Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania . The responsibilities and the form of the township government is specified by the state legislature . The most common form of township government has an elected board of trustees or supervisors. Some additional offices, such as clerk or constable , may also be elected. The most common governmental responsibilities of townships include oversight of such things as road maintenance, land-use planning , and trash collection. Many townships in Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania provide police and fire protection, similar to what an incorporated city would provide. In most midwestern states ,
84-418: A civil township often corresponds to a single survey township, although in less populated areas, the civil township may be made up of all or portions of several survey townships. In areas where there are natural features such as a lake or river, the civil township boundaries may follow the geographic features rather than the survey township boundaries. Municipalities such as cities may incorporate or annex land in
112-430: A separate type of government to allow greater flexibility for township governments to serve urbanized populations. In Michigan, as in other states with like systems (though sometimes different names), a township is an administrative division of a county, which is an administrative division of the state. Counties and townships are local organs through which state law and public policy are administered, adapted to local need to
140-435: A township, which is then generally removed from township government. Only one state, Indiana , has township governments covering all its area and population. In other states, some types of municipalities, like villages, remain a part of the township while cities are not. As urban areas expand, a civil township may entirely disappear—see, for example, Mill Creek Township, Hamilton County, Ohio . In other expanding urban areas,
168-513: Is not surveyed into townships, but is still a gridded survey. Portions of the Texas State Survey use square townships. Sizeable portions of Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, are unsurveyed. Substantial swampy areas in Florida and Louisiana are also unsurveyed. Both New York and Pennsylvania have metes-and-bounds surveys, but in the western parts of these states,
196-639: Is used in three ways. Survey townships are generally referred to by a number based on the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). A reference to the township will look something like "Township 2 North Range 3 East", or "T2N,R3E" and such a notation is used in property descriptions based on the PLSS . Townships were originally surveyed and platted by the United States General Land Office, using contracted private survey crews, and are marked on
224-576: The Detroit metropolitan area . Towns and townships are sometimes considered minor civil divisions of counties by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. According to the Census Bureau, in 2002, town or township government applied to 16,504 organized governments in the following 20 states: This categorization includes governmental units officially designated as "towns" in
252-1055: The New England states, New York, and Wisconsin, some plantations in Maine and locations in New Hampshire. In Minnesota, the terms town and township are used interchangeably with regard to township governments. Although towns in the six New England states and New York, and townships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are legally termed municipal corporations, perform municipal-type functions, and frequently serve densely populated urban areas, they have no necessary relation to concentration of population, and are thus counted for census purposes as town or township governments. Even in states beyond New England, townships often serve urbanized areas and provide municipal services typically provided by incorporated municipalities. The count of 16,504 organized township governments does not include unorganized township areas (where
280-527: The Township of the Borough of Verona or Township of South Orange Village , changed their names to qualify for additional federal aid at the expense of municipalities of other types. Utah and Nevada have areas called townships, but they are not the same as civil townships. These areas are not separate governments, but have been granted some degree of self-rule by a county. Michigan has created charter townships as
308-592: The United States Geological Survey maps of the United States. Townships are normally a square approximately six miles (9.7 km) on a side with cardinal boundaries conforming to meridians and parallels, containing 36 sections of one square mile (2.6 km ) each. The northern and westernmost tier of sections in each township are designed to take up the convergence of the east and west township boundary lines or range lines, as well as any error in
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#1733106149193336-666: The Jackson Purchase (the area west of the Tennessee River) is divided into townships and ranges. In Tennessee, the entire state is surveyed into townships and ranges that make up 13 survey districts of the Tennessee State Survey. In extreme northern Maine there is an area divided into townships and ranges oriented to true north. A region in the central part of the state, made up of 17 surveys, is divided into townships, but these are not oriented to true north. The remainder of
364-476: The PLSS survey system, but on the older metes and bounds survey system. A New Jersey township differs only in name from other municipalities: its boundaries are fixed, it is an incorporated body, and it is free to adopt another form of government. The federal government formerly had a revenue sharing arrangement that separately allocated funding for townships and other minor civil division types such as cities or boroughs; some New Jersey municipalities, such as
392-421: The age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 18.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.03. In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.0% under
420-460: The age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $ 37,500, and the median income for a family was $ 45,625. Males had a median income of $ 32,656 versus $ 23,750 for females. The per capita income for
448-632: The extent the law allows. A charter township is a township that has been granted a charter, which allows it certain rights and responsibilities of home rule that are generally intermediary in scope between those of a city (a semi-autonomous jurisdiction in Michigan) and a village, which (unless it is a home-rule village) is subject to the authority of the township(s) in which it is located. Charter townships may also reorganize themselves into municipalities, as can be seen in Wayne County, Michigan , and elsewhere in
476-402: The metes-and-bounds form square townships many of which are also civil townships. Besides these, nearly every state has areas of metes-and-bounds that were never included in the grids (like along major rivers) or were removed from the grid, usually due to surveying mistakes. The township government is a unit of local government, often rural. Townships are geographic and political subdivisions of
504-564: The north, bringing the edge of town up to what was then the Frankfort and Kokomo Railroad (later the Toledo, St. Louis and Western ). In 1912 the Marion, Kokomo and Frankfort Electric Railroad built a line that paralleled the other through town. Michigantown was incorporated in the early 1870s. The northern part of town was sometimes referred to as Lowdenville. A Norfolk Southern Railway line crosses
532-475: The northern edge of town and connects the cities of Frankfort and Kokomo. According to the 2010 census, Michigantown has a total area of 0.26 square miles (0.67 km), all land. As of the census of 2010, there were 467 people, 183 households, and 134 families living in the town. The population density was 1,796.2 inhabitants per square mile (693.5/km). There were 205 housing units at an average density of 788.5 per square mile (304.4/km). The racial makeup of
560-658: The state is on metes and bounds . Similarly, Vermont and New Hampshire are mostly metes-and-bounds states, but have areas in the north that are surveyed into townships not oriented to true north. Most of Ohio is surveyed using the Public Land Survey System, but several sizable areas are metes-and-bounds, including the Virginia Military Reserve, Donation Tract, French Grant and the three Moravian grants (Gnadenhutten, Schoenbrunn and Salem). A 150,000-acre (61,000 ha) area in southern Indiana ( Clark's Grant )
588-529: The survey measurements, and therefore these sections vary slightly from being one square mile or 640 acres (260 ha). Survey townships exist in some form in most states other than the original Thirteen Colonies , Kentucky , Tennessee , Vermont , and Maine . Irregular or fractional townships with fewer than a full 36 sections are created where full townships cannot be laid out due to existing senior boundaries, such as Spanish/Mexican ranchos , Indian reservations , state boundary lines, etc. In Kentucky,
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#1733106149193616-489: The town was $ 21,102. About 2.5% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 5.0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. Michigan Township, Clinton County, Indiana Michigan Township is one of fourteen townships in Clinton County, Indiana . As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,585 (down from 1,649 at 2010 ) and it contained 673 housing units. The township
644-556: The town was 97.9% White , 0.4% African American , 0.4% Asian , 0.4% from other races , and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population. There were 183 households, of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% were married couples living together, 17.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 26.8% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who
672-439: The town. The population density was 1,533.6 inhabitants per square mile (592.1/km). There were 164 housing units at an average density of 619.5 per square mile (239.2/km). The racial makeup of the town was 99.26% White , 0.25% Native American , 0.25% from other races , and 0.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population. There were 155 households, out of which 41.3% had children under
700-502: The township may exist in name only, but has no organized government) or where the townships are coextensive with cities and the cities have absorbed the township functions. It also does not include the townships in Iowa (see Iowa townships ), which are not separate governments, but are classified as subordinate agencies of county governments. Of the 16,504 town or township governments, only 1,179 (7.1 percent) had as many as 10,000 inhabitants in
728-520: The township may incorporate itself into a city; this can be seen in the numerous square cities of Hennepin , Anoka , and Washington counties in Minnesota . The Montgomery County, Ohio , cities of Trotwood (1996, formerly Madison Township), Huber Heights (1980, Wayne Township), and Kettering (1955, Van Buren Township) are further examples of townships incorporating into cities. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have civil townships that are not based on
756-485: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age in the town was 34.1 years. 27% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.7% were from 25 to 44; 23.4% were from 45 to 64; and 13.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.0% male and 52.0% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 406 people, 155 households, and 117 families living in
784-712: Was named for the Michigan Road , an early thoroughfare through the area. Mahlon Shinn and Robert Edwards were the township's first white settlers, arriving in 1830 and followed the same year by many more. The township was organized in March 1831. According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of 35.82 square miles (92.8 km ), all land. Prior to settlement the land was heavily timbered with oak, poplar, walnut, sugar maple, beech, elm, ironwood, dogwood and pawpaw. The township contains seven cemeteries: Brandon, Hopewell Cemeteries, Layman, Layton, Old Whiteman, Paris and Whiteman. Township (United States) The term
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