Douglas Township is a township in Dakota County,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States. The population was 748 at the 2020 census. Douglas Township was organized in 1858, and named for

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (né Douglass; April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a United States Senate, U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party (United States) ...

, a United States

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Its town hall is located at the intersection of

U.S. Route 61 U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designat ...

and state highways 20 and 50.

History

On April 6, 1858, the Dakota County board of commissioners made township 117, range 17 Douglas Township. Hugh McKay made the first claim to land within the township in the spring of 1854. The first elections were held on May 11, 1858. The elected officials included: Harvey Van Auken, John Borrill and John McLaughlin as judges of election; Hugh Larimer, clerk of court; Harvey Van Autken, Daniel W. Twichell and John Borrill, as supervisors; A. J. Patch, clerk: Hugh Larimer, as assessor; James Keetley, as collector; Richard Powers as constable; Harvey Van Auken as justice of the peace; John Holmes as overseer of highways.

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 , all land. There are no lakes in the township. There is one small stream, Trout Brook, which flows into the Cannon River that touches the southeastern corner of the township. The town of Miesville, established in 1874, is a town completely within Douglas Township. The township is divided into 36 sections.

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 760 people, 235 households, and 195 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 237 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 96.97%

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 ...

, 0.13%

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 ...

, 1.05% Native American, 0.53% Asian, and 1.32% 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 0.79% of the population. There were 235 households, out of which 48.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.6% 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, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.6% were non-families. 11.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.23 and the average family size was 3.56. In the township the population was spread out, with 33.8% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.6 males. The median income for a household in the township was $60,536, and the median income for a family was $68,068. Males had a median income of $41,389 versus $29,375 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 $22,319. About 3.6% of families and 3.7% 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 2.8% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Townships in Dakota County, Minnesota Townships in Minnesota