Sodus 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
Berrien 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 sover ...
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 1,932 at the
2010 census.
There are no incorporated municipalities in the township. The
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 ...
of Sodus in the northwest of the township is its main settlement; the portion of the township just to the west is part of the
Benton Harbor
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of ...
/
St. Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...
urban area.
History
Probably the first entrepreneur in Sodus Township was James LaRue, a New Jersey native, who purchased riverfront land for the construction of a sawmill in 1835. The first permanent settler, however, was David S. Rector who, in 1837, took possession of 40 acres of land.
[Sodus Township](_blank)
, Berrien County Community Development Department, August 2008. The name of the township came from Rector. He and his brother, William H., came to the area by way of keel boat from
Sodus, New York
Sodus is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Wayne County, New York, Wayne County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,384 at the 2010 census. The town takes its name from a native word for the bay in ...
, so the township was named such in 1859 after the town from which they departed.
In 1853, Joab Enos built a flour mill, also on Pipestone Creek. The township was organized on October 11, 1859.
In 1891, Ernest Tabor established Tabor Farm Summer Resort on the banks of the
St. Joseph River. The resort was open during summers and hosted reunions, conventions and banquets.
[Tabor's Farm Resort]
/ref> From 1961 to 1983, it was owned and managed by Alma
Alma or ALMA may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film
* ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922
* ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017
* ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...
and Valdas Adamkus
Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; 3 November 1926) is a Lithuanian-American politician, diplomat and civil engineer. He served as the 5th and 7th President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009.
Adamkus' ...
, future President of Lithuania
The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019.
Powers
The president has somewhat more executive authority tha ...
. The resort was closed in 1990.[
Sodus has had retail establishments in the past, though it has none now.
]
Geography
The St. Joseph River forms most of the western boundary of the township, with Royalton Township on the other side of the river. The township shares a short western border with the community of Fair Plain in Benton Charter Township north of the St. Joseph River. Benton Charter Township continues as the township to the north, Bainbridge Township is to the northeast, Pipestone Township to the east, Berrien Township to the southeast, and Oronoko Charter Township to the south. A new segment of US 31 was completed in August 2003 that re-routed the highway through the township. 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 ...
crosses the northwest corner of the township with two interchanges located nearby.
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 is land and , or 2.91%, 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 incl ...
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 ...
, 8.37% 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 ...
, 0.28% Native American, 0.05% 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 ...
, 0.23% 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 ...
, 1.26% 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 2.62% 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 ...
or 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 8.74% of the population.
There were 884 households, out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the township the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.3 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $33,804, and the median income for a family was $42,250. Males had a median income of $34,018 versus $22,824 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 $17,646. About 6.6% of families and 13.6% 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 12.6% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
Sodus is the birthplace of Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...
referee and former Chicago sportswriter James Enright.
The novel ''At Home in Old Sodus
AT or at may refer to:
Geography Austria
* Austria (ISO 2-letter country code)
* .at, Internet country code top-level domain
United States
* Atchison County, Kansas (county code)
* The Appalachian Trail (A.T.), a 2,180+ mile long mountaino ...
'' by Michael Jewell
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
() is set in Sodus Township.
References
External links
Sodus Township official website
Sodus Township Library
{{authority control
Townships in Berrien County, Michigan
Townships in Michigan