Atlas 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 Genesee 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, ...

. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 8,352, up from 7,993 at the 2010 census.

Communities

*Atlas 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 ...

in the township, about southeast of Flint and about a mile north of Goodrich at . The ZIP code is 48411 and the elevation is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. Its first postmaster was Norman Davison when Davisonville in 1837 was within Lapeer County in

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

. It was formerly known as Davisonville in 1873, while the post office was known as Atlas.Map of Genesee County, Michigan
Drawn, compiled, and edited by H.F. Walling, C.E. ... Published by R.M. & S.T. Tackabury, Detroit, Mich. Entered ... 1873, by H.F. Walling ... Washington. The Claremont Manufacturing Company, Claremont, N.H., Book Manufacturers *The Village of Goodrich is at the center of the township. The ZIP code is 48438. *The northeast corner of the township is considered to be part of the

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

suburban area. *Kipp Corners is an unincorporated community in the township south of Kipp Road on M-15 and Horton Road.

History

Atlas Township was organized in 1836 as part of Lapeer County, and was one of the earliest townships in this region to receive settlers. The first settler was Asa Farrar, who, in September, 1839, purchased land on section 18 and built a log house upon it the same year. He was a brother of Pearson Farrar, who settled the same year in Grand Blanc upon an adjacent section. They came from

Monroe County, New York Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of New York, located along Lake Ontario's southern shore. As of 2022, the population was 752,035, according to Census Bureau estimates. Its county seat and largest city is Rochester. The county is ...

. The first birth and the first marriage in the township occurred in Asa Farrar's family, respectively, in 1833 and 1834. In 1831, Norman Davison settled on the banks of Kearsley Creek in section 8 starting the Davisonville settlement. Soon, the settlement was the center of the township's development. The mills were built in 1833 (saw-mill) and 1836 (grist-mill). Goodrich was started in September 1835 with Moses and Enos Goodrich purchasing over one thousand acres near the center of the township and building a log cabin before fetching their family. The township was detached from Lapeer County and added to Genesee County in 1843. On October 9, 1862, a post office was opened at Kipps Corner and lasted until closed on November 6, 1871. via In 2024, Atlas Township was hit by a strong tornado, which was ultimately rated EF3. It ended up snapping multiple trees, blowing two garage doors out and stripping a roof partially off of a home. The tornado reached peaked intensity as it continued into an industrial complex, blowing out walls and inflicting significant roof loss. After exiting the industrial complex, the tornado snapped or uprooted pine trees before lifting.

Geography

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 (1.67%) 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 7,257 people, 2,442 households, and 2,053 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,554 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.56%

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 ...

, 0.32% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.12%

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 ...

, 0.25% from other races, and 0.91% 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 1.07% of the population. There were 2,442 households, out of which 44.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.3% 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, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.9% were non-families. 13.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.24. In the township the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.6 males. The median income for a household in the township was $73,720, and the median income for a family was $78,349. Males had a median income of $59,213 versus $32,156 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 $27,960. About 2.6% of families and 4.0% 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 3.2% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Atlas Township
{{authority control Townships in Genesee County, Michigan Townships in Michigan