Rudyard 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
Chippewa County in the
U.S. state of
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 1,289. In 2023, Rudyard Township was designated the "
Snowy Owl Capital of Michigan".
History
Rudyard is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
within the township located on
M-48, near
I-75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...
. The community was originally named "Pine River". However, because there was already another town in Michigan with that name, it was changed in 1890 to Rudyard. The name was suggested by
Frederick Douglas Underwood, an executive with the
Soo Line Railroad, because of his great admiration for
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
.
Rudyard Kipling wrote back to Mr. Underwood, in reference to the naming of the towns of Rudyard and
Kipling, Michigan.
Geography
Rudyard Township is in south-central Chippewa County on the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is bordered to the south by
Mackinac County.
Interstate 75 crosses the township, with access to Rudyard village from Exit 373. From the exit, I-75 leads north to
Sault Ste. Marie and south to
St. Ignace on the
Straits of Mackinac.
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 , or 0.46%, is water.
Climate
Communities
*Dryburg was a station on the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad. It had a post office from 1903 until 1943.
[Walter Romig, ''Michigan Place Names'', p. 163, ]Wayne State University Press
Wayne State University Press (or WSU Press) is a university press that is part of Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 186 ...
,
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 1,315 people, 491 households, and 370 families residing in the township. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...
was 14.6 per square mile (5.6/km). There were 671 housing units at an average density of 7.5 per square mile (2.9/km). The racial makeup of the township was 88.97%
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 ...
, 0.30%
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 ...
, 5.48%
Native American, 0.61%
Asian, 0.23% from
other races, and 4.41% 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 2.13% of the population.
There were 491 households, out of which 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% 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, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the township the population was spread out, with 30.7% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $37,000, and the median income for a family was $41,875. Males had a median income of $34,375 versus $20,893 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 $15,941. About 5.7% 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 ...
, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 15.2% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
*
Bernice Steadman, American aviator and member of the
Mercury 13.
*
John Petersen, drummer for
The Beau Brummels and
Harpers Bizarre.
*
Gary McDowell, Michigan State Representative.
References
External links
Rudyard Township official websiteExcerpts from ''Tales of Rudyard As Told by the Folks'' published in 1922 and reprinted by the Rudyard Lion's Club in 1973
{{authority control
Townships in Chippewa County, Michigan
Townships in Michigan