Spring Lake 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, ...

. The population was 15,296 according to the 2020 census, up from 14,300 according to the 2010 census. The village of Spring Lake is located within the township. The city of Ferrysburg is south of the township bordering

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 ...

, the Grand River and Spring Lake. On the south side of the Grand River is the city of

Grand Haven Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2020 census, Grand Ha ...

and Grand Haven Charter Township. Crockery Township is to the east and

Muskegon County Muskegon County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the population was 175,824. The county seat is Muskegon. Muskegon County comprises the Muskegon, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Grand R ...

is to the north. It was established in 1855.

Geography

Within the Township of Spring Lake, is a lake called Spring Lake. This lake is roughly 4 miles long, not including its various bayous, and ~200 feet wide before it drains into the final stretches of the Grand River. Spring Lake separates the township into two sections: one to the north of Ferrysburg and west of Spring Lake and the other to the east of Spring Lake and north of the Grand River (and area including the village of Spring Lake). There is only one bridge across the lake, M-104, which connects the village of Spring Lake with Ferrysburg. The only other way around the lake requires going north into Muskegon County. There is also a small peninsula in the Grand River, which is part of the Grand Haven State Game Area, where the only road access involves going through Crockery Township. 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 (17.09%) is water.

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 13,140 people, 5,237 households, and 3,650 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 5,748 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.35%

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 ...

, 0.33%

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 ...

, 0.42% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.43% from other races, and 0.95% 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 1.57% of the population. There were 5,237 households, out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% 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, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.3% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.97. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males. The median income for a household in the township was $50,648, and the median income for a family was $62,931. Males had a median income of $45,469 versus $28,253 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 $27,548. About 3.2% of families and 4.1% 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 3.7% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Spring Lake Township official website
{{authority control Townships in Michigan Townships in Ottawa County, Michigan 1849 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1849 Michigan populated places on Lake Michigan