Sigel 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 re ...

of Huron 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 sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The population was 576 at the 2000 census.

Communities

*Engle was a post office in this township from 1879 until 1887. * Rapson 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 ...

on the northwest corner of the Township. *Verona or Verona Mills is an unincorporated community on the border with Verona Township at Verona Road and M-142/Sand Beach Road.

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 t ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and 0.03% is water.

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 in ...

of 2000, there were 576 people, 184 households, and 154 families residing in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

was 16.1 per square mile (6.2/km). There were 202 housing units at an average density of 5.6 per square mile (2.2/km). The racial makeup of the township was 97.57%

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 o ...

, 0.17%

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 ...

, 0.69% Native American, 0.35%

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 ...

, and 1.22% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

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 0.17% of the population. There were 184 households, out of which 42.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.5% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.8% were non-families. 15.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.13 and the average family size was 3.47. In the township the population was spread out, with 33.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $41,442, and the median income for a family was $44,583. Males had a median income of $32,059 versus $23,125 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 township was $16,264. About 5.8% of families and 7.8% 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 t ...

, including 8.0% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

History

Directly west of Sand Beach township lies that of Sigel. It was organized some time prior to 1864 with Watson Robinson as the first supervisor on the records. He took up of land under the homestead act that same year. In the fire of '81 all of his buildings and crops were destroyed. He found himself the morning after the fire without a hat or shoes and practically destitute of clothing of any kind. With his accustomed energy and enterprise he began at once to rebuild and repair as far as possible the damage done by the fire. The first settlers in this township were Fred Jurgess, Joseph Lakowski and Waterhouse Whitelam, who came in 1859. Samuel Williams was another pioneer in this section of the county. In the early lumbering days he had worked for Pack, Woods & Co., at Harbor Beach and later at Port Crescent. He moved on to his farm in Sigel soon after the fire of '71 and by diligence and hard labor transformed this piece of land from the wilderness that it was in 1874 to the modern country home of the present day. Florence McKinnon Gwinn, Pioneer History of Huron County Michigan (Huron County Pioneer and Historical Society, 1922), pgs. 75-76

References

Notes

Sources

* {{authority control Townships in Huron County, Michigan Townships in Michigan