Brownstown Charter Township is a

charter township A charter township is a form of Local government in the United States, local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. While all townships in Michigan are organized governments, a charter township has been granted a charter, which allows it cert ...

in Wayne 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, ...

. Its population was 33,194 at the 2020 census. Brownstown was established in 1827, a decade prior to Michigan's

admission to the Union Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that ...

. Brownstown has three separate but connected segments due to the incorporation of the cities of Flat Rock, Rockwood, and Woodhaven in the early 1960s.

History

Prior to the township's organization, the area was involved in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, and the battles of Brownstown and Maguaga took place in the area. The region now known as Brownstown was, like surrounding areas in Michigan, once a part of the French colony of New France (Mid France). The area eventually fell into hands of the British and finally came under American rule in the 18th century. The original area of land south 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 ...

was designated a township by the

Michigan Territorial Council The Michigan Territorial Council, known formally as the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, was the legislative body of the Territory of Michigan from 1824 to 1835, when it was succeeded by the Michigan Legislature in anticipation o ...

on April 5, 1827, when Moses Roberts was elected its first supervisor. This made Brownstown one of Wayne County's nine original townships."History"
Brownstown Township web site Research from local historians has found that the township was named for Adam Brown, who was kidnapped by the

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, who have been called Wyandotte, Huron, Wendat and Quendat * Wyandot language, an Iroquoian language * Wyandot Nation of Kansas, an unrecognized tribe and nonprofit organization ...

Indians. Brown was raised by the Wyandots, married a native woman, and grew to become a tribal leader. As time passed, settlements spread out from the lakeshore to begin changing the swampy, sandhill countryside into productive farmland. Established in 1893, Kurtzhals Farm is one of the largest remaining farms in the township.

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 (27.58%) are covered by water. The township is divided into three different segments. The

Huron River The Huron River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed November 7, 2011 river in southeast Michigan, southeastern Michigan, rising out of the Huron Swamp in Springfie ...

forms the southernmost boundary of the township with Berlin Charter Township in Monroe County. The southernmost point of the

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

is within the township, which leads to

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 ...

. Brownstown borders the cities of Flat Rock,

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, Riverview, Rockwood,

Southgate SouthGate is a shopping centre in Bath, Somerset, England, It is home to over fifty shops, ten restaurants, 99 homes and an 860-space underground car park. It replaced a shopping centre which was demolished in 2007. The new centre developed b ...

, and

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

, as well as touching corners with the cities of

Romulus Romulus (, ) was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...

and Trenton. Huron Charter Township borders to the west. Brownstown shares a water boundary with

Grosse Ile Township Grosse Ile Township is a civil township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,777 at the 2020 census. The township encompasses several islands in the Detroit River, of which the largest is named as Grosse Ile. Na ...

and across the

international border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

with the city of

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Demographics

At the 2000 census, 22,989 people, 8,322 households, and 6,249 families resided in the township. The population density was . The 9,008 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 89.02% White, 3.82% African American, 0.53% Native American, 3.83% Asian, 0.86% from other races, and 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 3.58%. Of the 8,322 households, 40.3% had children under 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were not families. About 19.8% of households were one person, and 4.3% were one person 65 or older. The average household size was 2.76, and the average family size was 3.18. In the township, the age distribution was 28.7% under 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.8% 65 were or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.7 males. The median income for a household was $55,239 and for a family was $65,544. Males had a median income of $50,246 versus $29,614 for females. The per capita income for the township was $22,523. About 5.7% of families and 6.9% 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 8.3% of those under 18 and 7.4% of those 65 or over. The population of Brownstown Township was 30,627. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 79.0% non-Hispanic white, 8.6% Black or African-American, 0.4% Native American, 5.2% Asian, 0.1% non-Hispanics of some other race, 2.1% reporting two or more races and 5.2% Hispanic or Latino.

Transportation

Highways

* * (Telegraph Road) *, U.S. highway that was decommissioned in 1973. It ran along the current Dix–Toledo Road, which runs through the northern portion of the township. * (Fort Street)

Other roadways

* Hull's Trace North Huron River Corduroy Segment, built in 1812, is a historic roadway that was the first military road and first federal road in the United States. * Jefferson Avenue runs along the southeastern portion of the township.

Bridges

Jefferson Avenue–Huron River and Harbin Drive–Silver Creek Canal Bridges Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer) * Jefferson (singer) or Geoff Turton (born 1944), British s ...

is a bridge listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

that carries Jefferson Avenue over the

, as well as the connected Harbin Drive bridge over the Silver Creek.

Economy

The township is also home to the Chevrolet Volt Battery Pack Assembly Plant. GM converted an empty warehouse on Sibley and King Roads between

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...

and Allen Road into a temporary plant.

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

opened a distribution center in Brownstown in 2015.

Education

Most of the township is served by the Woodhaven-Brownstown School District. The district includes eight separate schools and students from both the City of Woodhaven and Brownstown Township may attend the district. Woodhaven High School is the high school for the district. A portion of the township is within the

Gibraltar School District Gibraltar School District is a public school district in the Downriver area of Metro Detroit. It serves Gibraltar, Michigan Gibraltar is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,997 at the 2020 census. ...

.Zoning Map

Archive
. Brownstown Township, Michigan. Retrieved on June 15, 2014. Students in the small neighborhood south of Pennsylvania Road and west of Telegraph within Brownstown attend

Taylor School District The Taylor School District is a public school district in the city of Taylor, Michigan, Taylor in Metro Detroit, Michigan. The district serves Taylor and portions of Brownstown, Michigan, Brownstown, Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Dearborn Heig ...

schools. These students are assigned to Eureka Heights Elementary School, West Middle School, and Taylor High School, all in

. Residents in the northern section were once served by the Bacon Memorial Library in Wyandotte, but now all residents are served by the Trenton Veterans Memorial Library in Trenton.

References

External links

Brownstown TownshipSoutheast Michigan Council of GovernmentsTravel Treasures and Tours
{{Authority control Townships in Wayne County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan Michigan in the War of 1812 Michigan populated places on the Detroit River Michigan populated places on Lake Erie 1827 establishments in Michigan Territory Populated places established in 1827