Blendon 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 Ottawa 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 population was 7,081.

History

Blendon Township was formed in 1854. It was named for the Blendon Lumber Company, which owned much of the land in the township at the time.

Communities

There are no incorporated municipalities within the township. There are settlements in the unincorporated communities of Blendon, North Blendon, Borculo (which lies on the western boundary with Olive Township) and Bauer (which lies on the eastern boundary with Georgetown Township). *Bauer was established in 1880. *Borculo was established in 1867 by Jackus Klamderman and named for it for his place of birth Borculo in the Netherlands. Most of the early settlers were Dutch.

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 , all land. Olive Township is to the west, Robinson Township to the northwest, Allendale Charter Township to the north, Georgetown Township to the east, Jamestown Charter Township to the southeast, Zeeland Charter Township to the south, and Holland Charter Township to the southwest. No major roads pass through the township, although Interstate 196 passes just south of the township. The city of Hudsonville is just southeast of the township, while the cities of

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

and

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

are just a short distance to the southwest.

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

is about 15 miles to the east and Grand Haven is 20 miles to the northwest.

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 5,721 people, 1,743 households, and 1,492 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,783 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.82%

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 ...

, 0.17%

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 ...

, 0.09% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.44% from other races, and 1.07% 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 1.94% of the population. There were 1,743 households, out of which 48.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.6% 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, 4.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.4% were non-families. 11.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.28 and the average family size was 3.57. In the township the population was spread out, with 33.1% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $56,094, and the median income for a family was $61,611. Males had a median income of $41,226 versus $31,000 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 $20,876. About 1.6% of families and 2.8% 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 1.5% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* John J. Pruis (Borculo, MI) American academic, best known as being a president of Ball State University

References

{{authority control Townships in Ottawa County, Michigan 1854 establishments in Michigan Townships in Michigan Populated places established in 1854