Pointe Aux Barques 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 ref ...

of Huron County 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 15 at the 2020 census. Pointe Aux Barques is located at the tip of

the Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

on the

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. With a permanent population of only 15, the township is the least-populated municipality in the state and the third smallest township by land area after Novi Township and Royal Oak Charter Township.

Communities

*Pointe Aux Barques is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

within the township at . The name is a French translation of "point of ships" and was named by French sailors as early as 1760. The community had its own post office from June 12, 1897 until June 20, 1957.

Geography

According to the

U.S. 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 township has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The township is located at the northern end of

The Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

Turnip Rock Turnip Rock is a small geological formation in Michigan. It is a stack located in Lake Huron, in shallow water a few yards offshore, near the rock called the Thumbnail which is the extreme tip of Pointe Aux Barques, a small peninsula in Pointe Au ...

, an undercut

stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...

, is located just off the shores of the mainland. Surrounded by private property, it is only accessible by water, and there is no public road access.

Pointe aux Barques Light Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse ( ) is an active lighthouse located in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located along the shores of Lake Huron on the northeastern tip of the Thumb. Originally constructed in 1848, it is one of th ...

bears the name of the township but is located in neighboring Huron Township.

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 incl ...

of 2020, there were 15 people, 11 households, and 7 families residing in the township. There were 70 housing units, but many of the building were units of secondary housing not used by full-time residents.

References

{{authority control Townships in Huron County, Michigan Townships in Michigan Populated places established in 1903 1903 establishments in Michigan Populated places on Lake Huron in the United States