Dorr Township, Michigan
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Dorr 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 Allegan County in the southwest of 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, ...
. The population was 7,922 at the 2020 census.


History

This area was long the territory of Algonquian-language tribes, specifically the
Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
,
Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long prec ...
and
Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
. The first permanent European-American settlers in the township arrived in 1845. The first settler in the community of Dorr came in 1856, and arranged for the town to be platted in 1869. It received a United States post office in 1870.


Communities

Dorr 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 ...
at , near the center of the township, west of U.S. Highway 131 exit 68. The ZIP code is 49323. It is in the northeast part of Allegan County, 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Wayland and 19 miles (31 km) south-southwest of Grand Rapids. First known as "Dorr Centre", the community is believed to have been named for
Thomas Wilson Dorr Thomas Wilson Dorr (November 5, 1805 – December 27, 1854), was an American politician and reformer in Rhode Island, best known for leading the Dorr Rebellion. Early life, family, and education Thomas Wilson Dorr was born in Providence, Rhod ...
, a state legislator and leader of the Dorr Rebellion in
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
that sought a broader franchise of universal male suffrage in the 1840s. It has four elementary schools, including two public: Sycamore Elementary, which is part of the Hopkins school district, and Dorr Elementary, which is part of Wayland Union Schools. The two private schools are Saint Stanislaus Catholic School near Hilliards, and Moline Christian School. Moline 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 ...
at just east of U.S. Highway 131. The ZIP code is 49335. The community lies mostly within Dorr Township but is on the eastern boundary. Some development extends into neighboring Leighton Township. Moline was first settled by European Americans in 1840. Development was stimulated when the
Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad at its height provided passenger and freight railroad services between Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, USA. The company was formed on January 18, 1854. Beginnings After grappl ...
came through in 1870 and established a station here. It was platted in 1872 by Alfred Chapple. North Dorr is a tiny hamlet at straddling the boundary between Dorr Township in Allegan County and Byron Township in Kent County. It began about 1865 and had its own post office from 1874 to 1905. The city of Wayland is at the southeast corner of the township in Wayland 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 is land and , or 0.07%, 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 6,579 people, 2,100 households, and 1,768 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,135 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 96.93%
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 ...
, 0.52%
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 ...
, 0.46% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.90% from other races, and 0.94% 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 2.08% of the population. There were 2,100 households, out of which 47.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.5% 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, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.8% were non-families. 12.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.13 and the average family size was 3.43. In the township the population was spread out, with 33.7% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $60,446, and the median income for a family was $62,313. Males had a median income of $43,150 versus $26,510 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 $18,756. About 3.5% of families and 5.1% 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 12.0% of those age 65 or over.


Notable people

*
Owen Bieber Owen Frederick Bieber (;Sawyer, "In Troubled Detroit, the UAW to Follow 'a Guy You Can Trust'," ''The Washington Post,'' November 22, 1982. December 28, 1929 – February 17, 2020) was an American labor union activist. He was president of the Uni ...
— former president of the United Auto Workers, was born in North Dorr * Stubby Overmire — former professional baseball player, was born in Moline *
Bob Senneker Bob Senneker (born December 12, 1944) is an American stock car racing driver from Dorr, Michigan near Grand Rapids. He is best known for racing on the American Speed Association (ASA) National Tour where he was the 1990 champion. Senneker's 85 w ...
— former professional stock car racer, was born in Dorr


References


External links

*
Dorr Township Library
{{authority control Townships in Allegan County, Michigan Populated places established in 1845 Townships in Michigan 1845 establishments in Michigan