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
Branch County
Branch County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 44,862. The county seat is Coldwater. One of the "cabinet counties", it was named for John Branch, U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President ...
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, ...
. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 1,431.
Communities
There are no incorporated municipalities within the township.
* Bethel 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 southeast corner of the township at . It was first settled in 1830. A post office opened on April 30, 1857, and operated until November 30, 1905.
* Hatmaker is an unincorporated community near the center of the township at . The settlement was named for the pioneer Hatmaker family, which included Aaron, the cider-maker, and Peter, the grocer and first postmaster. A post office operated from May 23, 1887, until August 31, 1894, and from January 5, 1899, until June 15, 1900.
* Snow Prairie is a historical locale and former post office near the center of the township. Eleazar Snow from
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
settled here in 1830 near the northwest corner of
section
Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
16. The place became known as Snow Prairie, although Snow sold his holdings to Moses Olmstead in 1831. Because of its location, a post office named Bethel Centre was established on March 1, 1867. It was renamed Snow Prairie on September 19, 1867, and operated until June 15, 1869.
* The city of Bronson is adjacent to the west on U.S. Highway 12, which cuts through the northwest corner of the township. The Bronson ZIP code 49028 serves areas in western and southern Bethel Township.
* The city of Coldwater is to the northeast, and the Coldwater ZIP code 49036 serves areas in northern and eastern Bethel Township.
History
Eleazar Snow was the first settler in the area in 1830, though he sold out to Moses Olmstead in 1831. The town was first called Elizabeth, probably by Mr. Olmstead after
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was organized as a township under that name by the Michigan Legislature of 1836–37, and the first township meeting for the township of Elizabeth was held at the house of Moses Olmstead on April 3, 1837. The Michigan Legislature of 1838-39 changed the name of the township to Bethel, although no reasons for the change were recorded.
Geography
The township is drained by tributaries of the St. Joseph River: the Prairie River in the south and Swan Creek in the north.
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 , or 0.67%, 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 1,421 people, 475 households, and 362 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 510 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 88.74%
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 ...
, 1.06%
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 ...
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 11.26% of the population.
There were 475 households, out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.3% 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, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.6% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.18.
In the township the population was spread out, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 119.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 126.9 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $40,400, and the median income for a family was $44,038. Males had a median income of $29,034 versus $23,281 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 $16,252. About 5.0% of families and 10.2% 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 5.9% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.