Comstock Charter Township is a

charter township A charter township is a form of local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. Townships in Michigan are organized governments. A charter township has been granted a charter, which allows it certain rights and responsibilities of home rule that ...

Kalamazoo County Kalamazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. , the population was 261,670. The county seat is Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo County is included in the Kalamazoo– Portage, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Kalamazoo Count ...

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 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 ...

, located east of the city of

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

and is part of the

Kalamazoo–Portage Metropolitan Area The Kalamazoo–Portage Metropolitan Area comprises a region surrounding Kalamazoo. 2015 estimates placed it as the 151st largest among similarly designated areas in the United States. 2015 estimates place the combined statistical area 85th among ...

. The 2010 census recorded the population within the township at 14,854.

Communities

* Comstock 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 ...

in the western portion of the township along the

Kalamazoo River The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to when one includes the South Branch.U.S. Geologica ...

and M-96 at for which the township is named. The first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

opened here along Comstock Creek in 1831, and a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

was built soon after in 1832. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

was established here in February 1832. Comstock School opened in 1833. The Comstock ZIP code 49041 offers only P.O. box service. * Comstock Northwest is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

in the northwest section of the township and borders the city of

. * East Comstock is a named place located just east of the community of Comstock on M-96, near the dam forming Morrow Lake on the Kalamazoo River at . * Galesburg is a city on M-96 that borders the eastern portion of the township. The Galesburg ZIP code 49053 serves much of the eastern portion of the township. * Lawndale is a named place between East Comstock and Galesburg along M-96 at .

Schools

Comstock Township residents are served by three public school systems: * Comstock Public Schools, Comstock (Kalamazoo), Michigan * Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools; Galesburg, Michigan * Gull Lake Community Schools; Richland, Michigan Forest Academy is a K-8

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

located in Comstock Township.

History

Township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

2 South Range 10 West was first surveyed in January 1827 by Robert M. Clark. The first settler, William Tolland, came there in 1829 but apparently never purchased any land, despite living there for several years. In 1830, land entries were recorded for William Harris for the southwest quarter of

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

17 and Major G. Van Dwyer for the southwest quarter of section 13 (the eastern portion of the section is now part of Galesburg). In 1831 land entries were recorded for Horace H. Comstock, Caleb Eldred, Thomas W. Merrill, Mumford Eldred, Stephen Eldred, Leland Lane, and others. Settling in the eastern part of the township in or near what is now Galesburg were Nathaniel Matthews, Ralph Tuttle, Sherman Cummings, George Townsend, and Nathan Cothren. H. H. Comstock, Caleb Eldred, and Cryus Lovell settled in the western part of the township near what became Comstock. Comstock Township was organized by an act of the Territorial Legislature in 1834. Previously, it was a part of Arcadia Township (later renamed Kalamazoo Township), which initially comprised all eight townships in the northern half of Kalamazoo County. In June 1832, Richland Township was set off, consisting of Richland,

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

, Charleston, and Comstock townships. On March 7, 1834, Comstock township was set off, comprising Comstock and Charleston townships and also Climax Township, which had been set off from Brady Township. Climax was set off from Comstock on December 30, 1837, and Charleston in 1838.Chronology of Township, Village and City Formation
Kalamazoo County, MI Genealogy and Local History Comstock Township became a

in 1964.

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 the ...

, the township has a total area of , of which are land and , or 5.49%, are water. The

flows from east to west through the center of the township, including through Morrow Lake, a reservoir.

Demographics

A densely populated portion of the township adjacent to the city of

is part of the

(CDP), Comstock Northwest. 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 2000, there were 13,851 people, 5,366 households, and 3,809 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 5,601 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 91.98%

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 on ...

, 4.01%

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 ...

, 0.43% Native American, 1.16%

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 ...

, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, 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 the original p ...

, 0.70% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.71% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, 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 Vic ...

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 1.67% of the population. There were 5,366 households, out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.04. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $46,140, and the median income for a family was $54,866. Males had a median income of $40,845 versus $29,195 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 $22,857. About 6.0% of families and 7.1% 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 t ...

, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Comstock Township operates under a home rule charter government, with a supervisor, clerk, treasurer, and four trustees forming the township board of governance.

Public utilities

The city of Kalamazoo and the city of Galesburg provide water and sanitary sewer service to the urban areas within the township.

Public safety

The Comstock Fire and Rescue department was established in 1924. It currently operates three fire stations that house six engines. The department employs a full-time fire chief and fire inspector, as well as a number of full-time and paid on-call staff that operate the three fire stations 24 hours a day. The township contracts with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's department to provide police patrol during designated hours within the township.

Transportation

Comstock Township is served by the following highways: *

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

(exits 80, 81, and 85). *

State highways A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

M-96 and M-343. The Kalamazoo Metro Transit

public transportation system Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typica ...

provides bus service within Comstock Township to the

Kalamazoo Transportation Center The Kalamazoo Transportation Center is an intermodal complex in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan. Amtrak and Greyhound provide regular service there. The center is also the major downtown transfer hub for Kalamazoo's Metro Transit bus system. It is ...

in downtown Kalamazoo. The

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

and the Grand Trunk Western \ Canadian National railroads provide freight rail service within the township.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

provides passenger rail service 4 miles west in nearby downtown Kalamazoo.

Interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

electric rail service that ran from

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which en ...

through the township ended in 1929. The Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport is 5 miles southwest in nearby Kalamazoo and provides daily commercial passenger and freight service.

Economy

"Bedding Plant Capital of the World"

The fertile soil along the

valley led the Comstock area to become known as the "Bedding Plant Capital of the World". Comstock Township is home to the largest bedding plant cooperative in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of plants, many varieties of which can be found throughout the county's parks and boulevards, are sold each year to retail garden centers nationwide.

Bell's Brewery

Comstock Township is the home of the Bell's Brewery production facility. Established as the Kalamazoo Brewing Company in 1985 by Larry Bell, the brewery moved production from its original downtown

location to a facility in Comstock Township in 2003. The brewery expanded its Comstock facility to nearly in 2012. The brewery is the largest brew house in the state of Michigan, with an annual capacity of over 1 million barrels.

Midlink Business Park

Midlink Business Park is a multi-use commercial center that was once the home of a

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

Fisher Body plant located in Comstock Township. Following the closure of the GM plant in 1998, the site was purchased by a mix of public and private partners to transform the 2.2 million-square-foot facility into a business park. As of 2010, there were 13 businesses operating within the 340-acre site, including a 95-room hotel.

References

External links

Official websiteKalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce
{{Kalamazoo County, Michigan Townships in Kalamazoo County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan area Populated places established in 1834 1834 establishments in Michigan Territory