Blue Lake 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 ...

Muskegon County Muskegon County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the population was 175,824. The county seat is Muskegon. Muskegon County comprises the Muskegon, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Grand R ...

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 2,416. One of the largest landowners in the township is the Pathway to Adventure Council of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

, which owns

Owasippe Scout Reservation Owasippe Scout Reservation (OSR), located in Twin Lake, Michigan is the resident camp operated by the Pathway to Adventure Council (formerly Chicago Area Council) of Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organizat ...

. The township is also home to the

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is a Michigan nonprofit organization located in the Manistee National Forest that provides summer fine arts camp and international exchange programs in music, art, dance, and drama. The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp was found ...

History

Blue Lake Township was organized in 1865.

Geography

The township is in northern Muskegon County, bordered to the north by Oceana County. The township center is by road northeast of

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

and north of

Muskegon Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

, 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 ...

. 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 6.11%, are water. There are dozens of natural lakes in the township, the largest being Big Blue Lake in the north. The White River, a tributary of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

, crosses the northwest part 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 2010, there were 2,399 people, 822 households, and 665 families residing in the township. 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 66.634 per square mile. There were 975 housing units at an average density of 27.08 per square mile. The racial makeup of the township was 90.2%

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 ...

, 3.0%

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 ...

, 2.4% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 2.71% 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 822 households, out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.5% 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, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.1% were non-families. 13.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.18. In the township the population was spread out, with 31.8% under the age of 20, 21.3% from 20 to 39, 31.2% from 40 to 59, 10.9% from 60 to 69, and 4.8% who were 70 years of age or older. The median age was 37.8 years. Based on the 2000 census: The median income for a household in the township was $50,000, and the median income for a family was $55,121. Males had a median income of $38,466 versus $27,760 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 $18,866. About 8.1% of families and 11.5% 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 18.9% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Blue Lake Township is managed by a township board and is headed by the office of supervisor. The current sitting supervisor is Melonie Arbogast.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

* {{authority control Townships in Muskegon County, Michigan 1865 establishments in Michigan Townships in Michigan