Bedford 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 Monroe 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, ...

. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 31,813. Bedford Township was organized in 1836. Sharing a southern border with the city of

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, about southwest of the city of

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 ...

, the township is one of the southernmost areas included in the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area (

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

). Bedford Township is the most populous municipality in Monroe County and the second most populous civil township in the state of Michigan after Macomb Township.

Communities

* Lambertville 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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

in the southwest part of the township at . The Lambertville 48144 ZIP Code serves the southwest part of Bedford Township. * Little Lake is a former community within the township. It briefly had its own post office from August 11, 1873, until December 30, 1879. William Tuttle served as the first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

. Tuttle's residence and post office can be seen in section 10 of an 1876 map of Bedford Township. *

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

is an unincorporated community in the northern part of the township at . The Samaria 48177 ZIP Code provides P.O. box service for the area. * Temperance is an unincorporated community and census-designated place near the center of the township at . The Temperance 48182 ZIP Code serves most of Bedford Township outside of the Lambertville area.

Geography

Bedford Township is located in Monroe County along the southern border of Michigan. It is bordered to the south by the city of

. 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 are land and , or 0.40%, are water. The township is drained to the southeast by several direct tributaries of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, including, from south to north, Halfway Creek, Flat Creek, Little Lake Creek, and Bay Creek.

Major highways

* runs briefly across the southeast part of the township. * also runs very briefly parallel to US 24 in the southeast corner of the township. * is a former state highway that ran through the township. It is now under local control.

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 28,606 people, 10,327 households, and 8,086 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 10,659 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 ...

, 0.40%

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 ...

, 0.20% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.41% from other races, and 0.92% 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 1.93% of the population. There were 10,327 households, out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.5% 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, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 18.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.15. In the township the population was spread out, with 28.1% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $59,835, and the median income for a family was $67,239. Males had a median income of $50,754 versus $31,165 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 $24,131. About 2.7% of families and 4.5% 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 4.8% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Bedford Township and a few surrounding areas are serviced by Bedford Public Schools, which includes Douglas Road, Jackman Road, and Monroe Road Elementary Schools, Bedford Junior High School, and

Bedford Senior High School Bedford Public Schools is a public school district in Temperance, Michigan. It is the smallest division 1 school district in Monroe County in terms of area. The district includes all of Bedford Township and a very small portion of Whitefor ...

. Between 2010 and 2012, facing budget constraints and a declining enrollment, the school board decided to close Smith Road Elementary and Temperance Road Elementary. Students from both schools were absorbed into the remaining elementary schools. New Bedford Academy is a charter school serving students K-8. It is chartered by

Ferris State University Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1884 as Big Rapids Industrial School by Woodbridge N. Ferris and became a public institution in 1950. ...

Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor University (SAU) is a private Free Methodist university in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Developing from an earlier academy and junior college, in 1963 it began offering bachelor's degrees. Attaining university status in 1994, it is t ...

operates a location geared for adults in Lambertville, and

Monroe County Community College Monroe County Community College (MCCC) is a public community college in Monroe County, Michigan. The main campus is located in Monroe Charter Township with a smaller off-campus location further south in Temperance. MCCC was founded in 1964 a ...

operates a branch of its college in Bedford Township named the Whitman Center. Previously St. Anthony School of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States. The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...

was in Temperance. Its service area included Bedford Township.

Media

Bedford Township contains two local newspapers: ''Bedford Now'' and the ''Bedford Press''. In addition, the nearby ''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issu ...

'' daily newspaper covers Bedford Township and the surrounding community. Radio stations within the township include WMLZ-LP and WMLZ-LP.

Notable people

* Mat Kerekes, singer and songwriter, born and grew up in Bedford Township

References

External links

* {{authority control Townships in Monroe County, Michigan Townships in Michigan Populated places established in 1836 1836 establishments in Michigan Territory