Brownstown Charter Township, Michigan

Brownstown Charter Township, Michigan
Charter township
Township Offices
Location in Wayne County and the state of Michigan
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Wayne
Government
• Supervisor	Andrew Linko
Area
• Total	30.5 sq mi (79 km2)
• Land	22.5 sq mi (58.3 km2)
• Water	8 sq mi (20.7 km2)
Elevation	584 ft (178 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	30,627
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	48100-48199
Area code	734
FIPS code	26-11220Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1625993

Brownstown Charter Township is a charter township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 30,627 at the 2010 census. It is part of the collection of communities known as Downriver. Brownstown's three separate segments are due to the incorporation of the cities of Flat Rock, Rockwood, and Woodhaven in the early 1960s. The township is also home to the Chevrolet Volt Battery Pack Assembly Plant. GM converted an empty warehouse on Sibley road and King Road between I-75 and Allen road into a temporary plant.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 30.5 square miles (79.1 km²), of which, 22.5 square miles (58.1 km²) of it is land and 8.1 square miles (20.9 km²) of it (26.47%) is water. It is divided into three pieces, two of which meet at a corner.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 22,989 people, 8,322 households, and 6,249 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,024.0 per square mile (395.4/km²). There were 9,008 housing units at an average density of 401.3 per square mile (154.9/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 89.02% White, 3.82% African American, 0.53% Native American, 3.83% Asian, 0.86% from other races, and 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.58% of the population.

Brownstown Battery Assembly plant

There were 8,322 households out of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the township the population was spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $55,239, and the median income for a family was $65,544. Males had a median income of $50,246 versus $29,614 for females. The per capita income for the township was $22,523. About 5.7% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2010 the population of Brownstown Township was 30,627. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 79.0% Non-Hispanic white, 8.6% black or African-American, 0.4% Native American, 5.2% Asian, 0.1% Non-Hispanics of some other race, 2.1% reporting two or more races and 5.2% Hispanic or Latino.

History

Kurtzhals Farms

The region now known as Brownstown was, like surrounding areas in Michigan, once a part of the French Province Quebec. The area eventually fell into hands of the British and finally came under American rule in the 18th century. The original 43-square-mile (110 km²) area of land south of Detroit was designated a township by the Michigan Territorial Commission on April 5, 1827, when Moses Roberts was elected its first supervisor. This made Brownstown one of Wayne County's nine original townships.

Legend holds that the township was named for Adam Brown, who was kidnapped by the Wyandot Indians. Brown was raised by the Wyandots, married a native woman and grew to become a tribal leader. As time passed, settlements spread out from the lakeshore to begin changing the swampy, sand-hill countryside into productive farm land. Established in 1893 Kurtzhals Farm is one of the largest remaining farms in the township.

External links

• Brownstown Township
• Southeast Michigan Council of Governments