Armada, Michigan
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Armada ( ) is a village in Macomb 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 ...
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 population was 1,684 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Armada Township. It is best known for its annual Armada Fair.


History

The first record of land purchased in the area that became Armada Township was made by John Proctor in 1825. Twenty-three more families had bought land in the rural area by 1832. Until that year the area was part of Ray Township. At that time a meeting was called to organize a separate township. The vote won by two and Armada Township was founded. When the discussion began to choose the name for the new township, legend says that "Hosea Northrup jumped up and shouted the name 'Armada'". The name was accepted. Several communities were founded within the township, which was originally developed for agriculture. What became the village of Armada was founded in 1833 by Elijah Burke; it was originally called "Burke's Corners" after him. The village began to prosper when residents improved the old Indian trail for use as a roadway in the early 1830s. The road soon became part of the immigrant and migrant road network between
Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...
and
Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Po ...
. Today this is known as Armada Ridge Road. Burke's Corners was briefly renamed "Honeoye", for the New York hometown of several newly arrived migrants. When the village was finally incorporated in the late 1860s, it was officially named "Armada", the same as the township. By then the village had about 800 inhabitants. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the village had a stagecoach stop, an opera house, a theater, seven grocery stores, three hotels, three hardware stores, a lumberyard, a grain mill, two implement dealers, a bakery, five doctors, several blacksmiths shops, and a drug store. The first school in Armada was a one-room schoolhouse located at Selleck's Corners. Soon schools were built all around the township. These one-room schools were consolidated during the 1940s. At that time, children were bused into town to attend the schools of the consolidated district. Armada's interest in education was demonstrated in the early 20th century by their applying to the Carnegie Foundation for matching funds in order to build and operate a public library.
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
's program was based on providing grants to villages and towns that would both provide matching funds for construction and commit to supporting all operations and maintenance of libraries. The residents committee of the township asked for $8,000 toward building a permanent township library. The Armada Free Public Library was built in 1915 and is still being used to provide library service in the early 21st century. A number of fraternal organizations, a literary club, a science club, and the Armada Cornet Band were among the social outlets for villagers and township residents. The
Michigan Air Line Railway The Michigan Air Line Railway was a railroad company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1875 and constructed a line between Richmond, Michigan, and Jackson, Michigan, between 1877 and 1884. It was under the control of the Grand Trunk ...
connected Armada to other cities in Michigan and elsewhere. Passengers and freight were processed through the two-door depot at the foot of Church Street. A cartage company delivered the freight to uptown businesses by horse and wagon. In 2014, the village was shut down due to an investigation by
Michigan State Police The Michigan State Police (MSP) is the State police (United States), state police agency for the U.S. state of Michigan. The MSP is a full-service law enforcement agency, with its sworn members having full police powers statewide. The department ...
and the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
of the murder of 14-year-old April Millsap, who was walking her dog on the Macomb Orchard Trail. Her body was found just outside the village limits. In 2016 a jury found the 34-year-old defendant, James VanCallis, a man from St. Clair County, to be guilty of four counts associated with the murder. He was sentenced to life in prison. Following this, residents came together to support their community. In a July 2019 ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'' vote, Armada was selected as the "Nicest Place in Michigan". It was a finalist for the magazine's "50 Nicest Places in America" story.


Geography

Armada is in northern Macomb County, north of Mount Clemens, the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
; southwest of
Port Huron Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Por ...
, and north-northeast of downtown
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. 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 village has a total area of , of which , or 0.27%, are water. The East Branch of Coon Creek passes through the center of the village, part of the
Clinton River The Clinton River is a river in southeastern Michigan in the United States. It is named in honor of DeWitt Clinton, who was governor of New York from 1817 to 1823. The main branch of the river rises from wetlands and coldwater tributaries from ...
watershed flowing to
Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair () is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day they first saw the lake. ...
.


Demographics


2010 census

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 2010, there were 1,730 people, 607 households, and 425 families residing in the village. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...
was . There were 656 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.0%
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 ...
, 0.3%
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 ...
, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 0.4% from other races, and 0.9% 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 2.6% of the population. There were 607 households, of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% 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, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 30.0% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.30. The median age in the village was 38.6 years. 27.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24% were from 25 to 44; 24.8% were from 45 to 64; and 15.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 47.3% male and 52.7% female.


2000 census

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 1,573 people, 540 households, and 408 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 558 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.71%
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 ...
, 0.19%
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 ...
, 0.57% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 0.19% from other races, and 1.14% 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 1.65% of the population. There were 540 households, out of which 42.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.3% 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, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.29. In the village, the population dispersal was 29.2% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $61,700, and the median income for a family was $69,917. Males had a median income of $50,795 versus $32,330 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 village was $22,446. About 2.9% of families and 3.6% 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 ...
, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.


Attractions

A country
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...
has been held in the village each August since 1872. A
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
festival
Armada-geddon
is held in the village each year on the second Saturday in October. It celebrates the fall, fun, and all things spooky. The event includes a 5k-walk, run and shamble; a street fair with craft vendors and food; games and activities for children; and, in the evening, a lighted Halloween Parade.


Notable people

*
Dick Enberg Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including N ...
, sports announcer; attended high school in Armada * Martha Griffiths, 59th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan; lived and died in Armada * Ben Stephens, American baseball pitcher; died in Armada


References


External links

*
Armada Fair

Armada Chamber of Commerce

Armada-geddon, Armada's annual Halloween festival
{{authority control Villages in Macomb County, Michigan Villages in Michigan Populated places established in 1833 1833 establishments in Michigan Territory