Ely 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 Marquette 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, ...

. The population was 1,900 at the 2020 census.

Communities

* Clarksburg was settled in 1862 along the

Escanaba River The Escanaba River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed December 19, 2011 river on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

. The Michigan Iron Company had a

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

here. It was platted in 1881. The post office closed in 1894. * Greenwood 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 ...

on US 41/ M-28 approximately west of Ishpeming. Greenwood was a station on the

Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS&A; ) was an American railroad serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin. It provided service from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and St. Ignace, Michigan, w ...

and was first

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1865. It was the site of the blast furnaces of the Michigan Iron Company and was first known as "Greenwood Furnace". A post office with that name operated from March 1867 until October 1875, the year the furnaces were closed. * South Greenwood is an unincorporated community approximately one mile south of US 41/M-28 at The Greenwood Station on the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway was located here.. * Snowville is an unincorporated community in the township between Clarksburg and Greenwood.

Geography

The township is in western Marquette County. 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 ...

, it has a total area of , of which are land and (2.32%) is water.

Highways

* passes east–west through the northern portion of the township.

Climate

Clarksburg has a snowy

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

( Dfb) bordering relatively closely on a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(Dfc), and is the coldest settlement in all of the state of Michigan with an average yearly mean of 38.2 °F (3.4 °C). Summers are pleasant albeit rainy, with warm to hot daytime temperatures along with cooler nights. Summer also is the wettest time of the year. Springs and Autumns can be highly variable but Springs tend to be cooler and more snowier. Winters are severely long and cold for the lower 48, as well as being very snowy, with annual snowfall averaging over 120 inches (305 cm) each year, due to

lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...

. Winters usually last 5 – 6 months depending on the severity of the winter with milder days being sprinkled in on both ends of the season. The average growing season is likely the shortest in the state of Michigan, with just 88 growing days, lasting from June 12 to September 8, though frosts have been recorded during all months of the year, including all of the summer months. Diurnal temperature range is relatively high year round, though it is higher during Spring and Summer. Record high: - recorded on July 21, 2022 Record low: - recorded on February 24, 2015 Highest minimum: - recorded on August 21, 2003 Lowest maximum: - recorded on February 5, 2007 Highest daily snowfall: - recorded on January 13, 2024 Highest snow depth: - recorded on February 24 & 25, 2019

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 2,010 people, 726 households, and 564 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,105 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.71%

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 ...

, 0.10%

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 ...

, 0.65% Native American, 0.15% Asian, and 0.40% 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 0.25% of the population. There were 726 households, out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.3% 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, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.16. In the township the population was spread out, with 27.8% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $42,326, and the median income for a family was $46,739. Males had a median income of $36,786 versus $22,000 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 $16,901. About 2.7% 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 5.9% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

* {{authority control Townships in Marquette County, Michigan Townships in Michigan