Interior Township, Michigan

Interior Township, Michigan
Township
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Ontonagon
Area
• Total	89.5 sq mi (231.7 km2)
• Land	86.5 sq mi (224.0 km2)
• Water	3.0 sq mi (7.7 km2)
Elevation	1,358 ft (414 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	375
• Density	4.3/sq mi (1.7/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code	26-40760
GNIS feature ID	1626518

Interior Township is a civil township of Ontonagon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 375 at the 2000 census. It was named for the Interior Lumber Company.

Communities

A large portion of the township is within the Ottawa National Forest.

• Agate is a place on M-28, about eight miles east of Bruce Crossing. Agate Falls Scenic Site [1] [2] on the middle branch of the Ontonagon River is nearby. It was originally known as Agate Siding, after the spur from the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (now the Soo Line Railroad) created in about 1890 to serve nearby mining operations. It was named for the agate stone.
• Calderwood was established in the 1880s around a lumbermill. It had a post office beginning in 1908.
• Trout Creek is a small unincorporated community on M-28, approximately 11 miles (18 km) east of Bruce Crossing and about five miles west of Kenton. The ZIP code is 49967. The nearby Trout Creek is a tributary of the Ontonagon River. This was a station on the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (now the Soo Line Railroad).

Trout Creek is the birthplace of baseball player Dick Pole. Pole is a former pitcher for Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners and was later the pitching coach for teams including the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 89.5 square miles (232 km²), of which 86.5 square miles (224 km²) is land and 3.0 square miles (7.8 km²) (3.33%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 375 people, 173 households, and 112 families residing in the township. The population density was 4.3 per square mile (1.7/km²). There were 303 housing units at an average density of 3.5 per square mile (1.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 96.27% White, 3.20% Native American, 0.27% from other races, and 0.27% from two or more races.

There were 173 households out of which 16.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.68.

In the township the population was spread out with 15.5% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 17.1% from 25 to 44, 34.1% from 45 to 64, and 25.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.3 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $27,679, and the median income for a family was $35,208. Males had a median income of $28,125 versus $19,375 for females. The per capita income for the township was $16,906. About 5.2% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 22.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Dick Pole, Major League Baseball pitcher and coach, was born in Trout Creek.

References

Sources

• Romig, Walter (October 1, 1986) [1973]. Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities (Paperback). Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1838-X. ISBN 978-0814318386. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)