Adrian Charter Township is a

charter township A charter township is a form of Local government in the United States, local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. While all townships in Michigan are organized governments, a charter township has been granted a charter, which allows it cert ...

of Lenawee 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, ...

. The township population was 6,401 at the 2020 census. The city of

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the ma ...

borders on the south, but the two are administered autonomously.

Communities

*Birdsall 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 ...

located along M-52 on the eastern border of the township with Raisin Township at . The community was first settled as early as 1827 by farmer Darius Comstock, who was the brother of Addison Comstock, who founded the community of

. The area settled around a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

school and seminary, which operated from 1850 to 1907. In 1897, the community received a station along the Detroit & Lima Northern Railroad. That year, a post office opened on July 15, 1897 and was named Birdsall after the first and only postmaster, Daniel B. Birdsall. The post office operated only briefly and closed on October 15, 1901.

History

The present boundaries of Adrian Township correspond to

survey township A survey township, sometimes called a Congressional township or just township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System and by Canada's Dominion Land Survey is a nominally-square area of land that is nominally six survey miles (a ...

6 South Range 3 East. Lenawee County was initially divided into three townships by act of the

Michigan Territorial Council The Michigan Territorial Council, known formally as the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, was the legislative body of the Territory of Michigan from 1824 to 1835, when it was succeeded by the Michigan Legislature in anticipation o ...

on April 12, 1827. Tecumseh Township spanned the northern portion of the county, Logan Township spanned the middle tier, and Blissfield Township spanned the southern tier (and also included an area in the

Toledo Strip The Toledo War (1835–1836), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or Ohio–Michigan War, was a boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo Strip. Control of th ...

which ultimately became part of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

). Over time, new townships were created and the area of Logan Township was reduced. By an act of the Territorial Legislature on March 7, 1834, Logan Township was reduced to consist of T6S R3E and was renamed as Adrian Township to match that of

, the main village in the township. The village of Adrian was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted under the name Logan in 1828 by Addison J. Comstock, but was soon renamed Adrian after the Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

at the request of Comstock's wife.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.06%) is water.

Major highways

* runs briefly through the southwest portion of the township. * runs along most of the eastern boundary of the township.

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 5,749 people, 2,147 households, and 1,711 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,224 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 92.68%

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 ...

, 1.65%

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 ...

, 0.45% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 2.94% from other races, and 1.48% 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 5.97% of the population. There were 2,147 households, of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.7% 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, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.3% were non-families. 16.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% 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 2.99. In the township the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $60,640, and the median income for a family was $64,653. Males had a median income of $46,106 versus $28,558 for females. The total

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 $24,881. About 1.4% of families and 3.2% 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 2.2% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those aged 65 or over.

Education

The majority of the township is served by Adrian Public Schools to the south in the city of

, while portions of the western part of the township are served by Onsted Community Schools to the northwest in the village of Onsted.

References

Sources

External links

Adrian Township official website
{{Lenawee County, Michigan Townships in Lenawee County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan 1834 establishments in Michigan Territory Populated places established in 1834