Empire 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 Leelanau County 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, ...

. The population was 764 at the 2020 census. On the shores 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 ...

, Empire Township contains a substantial amount of land within the

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a U.S. national lakeshore in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Located within Benzie and Leelanau counties, the park extends along a stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, as well ...

History

Empire Township was established in 1865.

was established in 1970, protecting the natural scenery of the area at the federal level.

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 (17.66%) is water. Empire Township contains shorelines on both

and

Glen Lake Glen Lake is a lake located in Northern Michigan. Located in the southwestern Leelanau Peninsula, the lake is directly adjacent to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and is, at its closest, about from Lake Michigan. The lake consists of two ...

Major highways

* is a north–south highway paralleling the coast of Lake Michigan. M-22 exits Empire Township south into

Benzie County Benzie County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,970. The county seat is Beulah. The county was initially set off in 1863 and organized in 1869.

, and north into Glen Arbor Township, over the narrows of

. * is an east–west highway with its western terminus at M-22 in Empire, less than a mile from

. East of Empire Township, M-72 crosses the

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

by way of

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...

, Kalkaska, Grayling, Mio, and Harrisville, whereupon it ends less than a mile from

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

. * is a scenic route adjacent to M-22 that has its southern terminus in Empire Township. The highway travels north through

to Glen Haven, where it turns east and ends at another junction with M-22 in downtown Glen Arbor.

Communities

* Burdickville 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

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

on the shore of

, at . Burdickville was established in 1864, and abandoned in 1912. Burdickville was founded in 1864 by William D. Burdick. * The

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of Empire is located in the west of the township, on the shore of

. * Jacktown is a ghost town in Empire Township, at .

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 1,085 people, 500 households, and 325 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 940 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.53%

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 ...

, 0.65% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 0.55% 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 0.28% of the population. There were 500 households, out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% 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, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.69. In the township the population was spread out, with 18.8% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 19.4% from 25 to 44, 33.8% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $40,263, and the median income for a family was $51,806. Males had a median income of $32,308 versus $26,164 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 $24,975. About 3.0% of families and 6.3% 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 7.7% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

Empire Township Website
{{authority control Townships in Leelanau County, Michigan Townships in Michigan Traverse City metropolitan area