Arvon 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, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England, New York, and Wisconsin to re ...
of
Baraga 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 sove ...
of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. As of the
2020 census, the township population was 492. Despite its name,
Mount Arvon, the highest point in Michigan, is located just south of the township, in neighboring
L'Anse Township.
Arvon Township's name is derived from that of the district of
Carnarvon in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, famous for its
slate industry
The slate industry is the industry related to the extraction and processing of slate. Slate is either quarried from a ''slate quarry'' or reached by tunneling in a ''slate mine''. Common uses for slate include as a roofing material, a flooring m ...
, because of the deposits of
slate in the township which were once the site of a failed
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
operation.
Communities
There are no incorporated municipalities within the township. There are several unincorporated communities and historical locales:
* Arvon, named after the township in 1872, began as a slate quarry village. A post office operated from June 8, 1874, until November 18, 1879, and again from May 18, 1882, until October 14, 1893.
*
Aura is located at the base of the Point Abbaye peninsula on the northern side of
Huron Bay
Huron Bay is a long, narrow fjord long, located in Baraga County, Michigan, on the northern shore of the Upper Peninsula of the State of Michigan. The bay, oriented in a northeast-southwest direction, is bounded by the Huron Mountains on its ea ...
.
*Huron Bay is a community located on Huron Bay a few miles southwest of Skanee. Here there is a
convenience store and a
tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...
. Huron Bay was formerly the terminus of the
Iron Range and Huron Bay Railroad, built to carry
iron ore from
Champion
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...
to Huron Bay. A post office was in operation from July 29, 1892, until January 31, 1894.
*McComb Corner is an unincorporated community in the township.
*Skanee is located about northeast of the village of
L'Anse. It is the site of the
township hall,
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
, and
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
. The Skanee
ZIP code 49962 serves a large portion of Arvon Township.
49962 5-Digit ZCTA, 499 3-Digit ZCTA - Reference Map - American FactFinder
U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census Skanee was founded by Captain Walfred Been, who came into Huron Bay and sought shelter from a storm in 1870. He named it after his home province of Skåne in Sweden.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 5.62%, is water.Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
to form Huron Bay. The bay is long and narrow so its waters are significantly more protected than those of the open lake. Much of the shoreline, particularly around the tip of the peninsula at Point Abbaye, is rocky, although there are some stretches of sandy beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...
.
Much of the land in Arvon Township is forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
with mixed deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
and coniferous trees. There are also jack pine
Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...
barrens and eastern arborvitae
''Thuja occidentalis'', also known as northern white-cedar, eastern white-cedar, or arborvitae, is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is native plant, native to eastern Canada and much of the north-central and ...
swamps. In settled areas, there are many wild apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
trees which now form a significant food source for deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
. Arvon Township has a number of river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
s, including the Huron River, which flow into Lake Superior. Because of these factors, the primary economic activities in Arvon Township are related to logging or tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
, particularly hunting
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...
and fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
.
Demographics
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 3.9 per square mile (1.5/km2). There were 623 housing units at an average density of 5.0 per square mile (1.9/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 93.36% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 3.11% Native American, 0.41% Asian, and 3.11% from two or more races. 17.8% were of Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, 16.3% German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, 14.8% Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
, 7.8% French, 7.5% Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
and 6.6% Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
ancestry according to Census 2000
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
.
There were 222 households, out of which 19.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% 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 2.67.
In the township the population was spread out, with 19.5% under the age of 18, 2.9% from 18 to 24, 16.8% from 25 to 44, 36.5% from 45 to 64, and 24.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 51 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.3 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $31,705, and the median income for a family was $39,545. Males had a median income of $26,786 versus $22,292 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the township was $19,800. About 3.8% of families and 8.0% 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 t ...
, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
References
{{authority control
Townships in Baraga County, Michigan
Townships in Michigan
Michigan populated places on Lake Superior