Park 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 18,625.

History

Park Township was originally part of Holland Township. It was part of Holland Township in 1912. Park Township was established in 1915.

Communities

*Macatawa is a small unincorporated community near

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

Lake Macatawa Lake Macatawa, historically known as Black Lake, is a lake in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Geography The lake is about long with a maximum width of and a surface area of . The average depth of the lake is variable but gener ...

that once was home to resorts catering to visitors from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Nearly all of these resorts were destroyed in several fires. It is now home to cottages only. The community is on the boundary between Laketown Township in Allegan County and Park Township in Ottawa County, however it is on the south side of Lake Macatawa separated from most of Park Township at . * Waukazoo Woods is a neighborhood on the north shore of Lake Macatawa. Present day Waukazoo Woods was formerly an Ottawa Indian village, which was led by Chief Waukazoo. In the early 1900s, Wauakazoo, a popular summer destination for tourists, was home to the Waukazoo Inn, a hotel. The Waukazoo Inn was demolished in 1960, being replaced by private homes.

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 , of which is land and (9.62%) is water. The southernmost part of the township is completely separated from the rest by

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 17,579 people, 6,113 households, and 4,951 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 6,926 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 93.55%

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 ...

, 0.45%

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 ...

, 0.18% Native American, 2.14% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.18% from other races, and 1.48% 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 5.46% of the population. There were 6,113 households, out of which 41.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.2% 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, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.0% were non-families. 15.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.87 and the average family size was 3.22. In the township the population was spread out, with 30.9% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $65,328, and the median income for a family was $72,647. Males had a median income of $51,124 versus $31,486 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 $28,777. About 1.4% of families and 2.6% 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 2.6% of those under age 18 and 0.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

* West Ottawa High School North Campus * Lakeshore Elementary School

References

External links

Park Township official website
{{authority control Townships in Michigan Townships in Ottawa County, Michigan Populated places established in 1915 1915 establishments in Michigan Michigan populated places on Lake Michigan