Blissfield is a village in
Lenawee County
Lenawee County ( ') is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 99,423. The county seat is Adrian. The county was created in 1822, from territory partitioned from Monroe County. Its g ...
in the U.S. state of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. The population was 3,340 at the
2010 census. The village is mostly located within
Blissfield Township with only very small portions extending west into
Palmyra Township and south into
Riga Township. The Blissfield post office first opened March 28, 1828. Hervey Bliss, who was the first white settler in 1824 and for whom the town is named, was the first postmaster.
History
During World War II, 16 German
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
s, who were working on a sugar beet farm near Blissfield, were killed in an accident when their truck collided with a train as they were returning to
Fort Custer. They are now buried at
Fort Custer National Cemetery
Fort Custer National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located just outside the village of Augusta, Michigan, Augusta in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. It encompasses , and had 30,000 interments.
History
Named for General George Arms ...
.
According to local legend, Blissfield was home to the first set of Triple Bridges in the world. These three bridges stood directly next to each other and crossed the
River Raisin
The River Raisin is a river in southeastern Michigan, United States, that flows through Ice age, glacial sediments into Lake Erie. The area today is an agriculture, agricultural and Industrial sector, industrial center of Michigan. The river flo ...
to accommodate train and vehicular travel. The interurban bridge was torn down and the road bridge was replaced with a larger bridge in place of both bridges.
In September–October 2014 Blissfield's village hall was moved to a former
KeyBank
KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is a regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the only major bank based in Cleveland. KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States.
Key's customer base spans retail, small b ...
location in the business district of the village. It is now two doors down from the Township offices. The police department was also moved with it.
Blissfield High School
Blissfield High School is a public high school serving grades 9–12 in Blissfield, Michigan, United States.
History
Prior to 1958, the district was served by a series of smaller rural schools. The initial nickname for the school district was t ...
is the home of the Royals. The baseball team has won seven state titles, while the girls volleyball team won their first state title in 2005.
The village contains three properties listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
:
Blissfield Downtown Historic District
The Blissfield Downtown Historic District is a historic district located in the village of Blissfield, Michigan, and roughly bounded by Pearl Street on the west, Giles Avenue on the east, Jefferson Street on the south, and Adrian Street and the ...
, the
David Carpenter House
The David Carpenter House is a former residence currently operating as a restaurant called the Hathaway House. It is located at 424 West Adrian Street (U.S. Route 223) in the village of Blissfield in Blissfield Township, Michigan. It was des ...
, and the
First Presbyterian Church of Blissfield
The First Presbyterian Church of Blissfield is an active church building located at 306 Franklin Street in the village of Blissfield in Blissfield Township in eastern Lenawee County, Michigan. It was designated as a Michigan State Historic Si ...
.
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 the ...
, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
The village occupies portions of three civil townships:
Blissfield,
Palmyra
Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...
, and
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
. Of the township's of total area, , or 98.7%, is located within Blissfield Township. Of the population of 3,340 at
2010 census, all but eight residents lived within Blissfield Township. The remaining eight lived in Palmyra Township, and no residents lived in the Riga Township portion of the village of Blissfield.
Demographics
2010 census
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 incl ...
of 2010, there were 3,340 people, 1,349 households, and 924 families living in the village. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 1,470 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.6%
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 on ...
, 0.3%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.5%
Native American, 0.2%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.8% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 5.1% of the population.
There were 1,349 households, of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.2% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.5% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.00.
The median age in the village was 38.8 years. 25.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.3% were from 25 to 44; 26.2% were from 45 to 64; and 15.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.
2000 census
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 incl ...
of 2000, there were 3,223 people, 1,319 households, and 903 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 1,388 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.59%
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 on ...
, 0.06%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.03%
Native American, 0.06%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 2.61% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.65% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 6.14% of the population.
There were 1,319 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $39,438, and the median income for a family was $48,964. Males had a median income of $37,218 versus $25,069 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 village was $19,255. About 6.9% of families and 8.4% 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 10.0% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
*
Gallery
Image:blissfield_township_river_raisin.JPG, River Raisin
The River Raisin is a river in southeastern Michigan, United States, that flows through Ice age, glacial sediments into Lake Erie. The area today is an agriculture, agricultural and Industrial sector, industrial center of Michigan. The river flo ...
from bridge on Adrian St.
Image:blissfield_township_old_blissfield_hotel.JPG, Old Blissfield Hotel, Lane St.
Image:blissfield_township_adrian_street.JPG, Adrian St., facing east
Image:blissfield_township_first_united_methodist_church.JPG, First United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
, Adrian St.
Image:blissfield_township_dinner_train.JPG, The Old Road dinner train
A dinner train is a relatively new type of tourist train service whose main purpose is to allow people to eat dinner while experiencing a relatively short, leisurely round trip train ride. This contrasts with conventional passenger trains, whose ma ...
, Adrian St.
Image:blissfield_township_american_legion_post.JPG, American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...
post 325, with F-105
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Viet ...
on display, Adrian St.
References
External links
Official Village of Blissfield siteBlissfield Area Chamber of CommerceBlissfield Downtown Development Authority
{{authority control
Villages in Lenawee County, Michigan
Villages in Michigan
Populated places established in 1826
1826 establishments in Michigan Territory