Farm Island Township is a township in Aitkin 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 1,099 as of the 2010 census.

Etymology

Farm Island takes its name from a

lake island A lake island is any landmass within a lake. It is a type of inland island. Lake islands may form a lake archipelago. Formation Lake islands may form in numerous ways. They may occur through a build-up of sedimentation as shoals, and become t ...

of the same name, which was cultivated by the

Ojibwe people The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and thr ...

History

During the period 1896–1912, the community was served by a post office named Dorris. The community is still referred to by some as Dorris. The historic Cedar Lake Lutheran Church and adjacent cemetery are both locally referred to by the name Dorris. Early immigrants in the area include the Roms (Carlsons), Dummers, Rudes (Ruds) and Petersons. In 2006 the Rom Poultry Farm ended their egg business. Much of the land was originally transferred to the railroad, and subsequently sold to settlers. The terrain reminded the surveyors of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and so named the Switzerland Trail (now Township Road 96). The township's Pine-Hickory Lakes Roadside Parking Area was developed as a

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

project from 1937 to 1938 and has been 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 ...

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 20.54%, is water. The terrain of the township contrasts with much of Aitkin County. Switzerland Trail Aitkin co Minnesota

Major highway

U.S. Highway 169 U.S. Route 169 (US 169) is a north-south U.S highway that currently runs for 966 miles (1,555 km) from the city of Virginia, Minnesota, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, at Memorial Drive. Route description Oklahoma US 169 is a major north–sou ...

Lakes

* Anderson Lake * Apple Lake * Bachelor Lake * Black Shadow Lake * Blue Lake (south three-quarters) * Brennen Lake * Camp Lake * Carlson Lake * Cedar Lake (southeast half) * Christmas Lake * Diamond Lake * Drain Lake * Dummer Lake * Farm Island Lake (north three-quarters) * Hammal Lake * Hanging Kettle Lake * Hickory Lake * Hill Lake * Horseshoe Lake * Landgren Lake * Little Pete Lake * Little Pine Lake * Lake Four * Lake Three * Long Lake * Pine Island Lake * Prescott Lake * Ripple Lake (west edge) * Round Lake * Seth Lake (west edge) * Spirit Lake * Sunset Lake * Taylor Lake * Thornton Lake * Town Line Lake * Townhall Lake * Vorse Lake

Adjacent townships

* Aitkin Township (north) * Spencer Township (northeast) * Nordland Township (east) * Wealthwood Township (southeast) * Hazelton Township (south) * Bay Lake Township, Crow Wing County (southwest) * Deerwood Township, Crow Wing County (west) * Rabbit Lake Township, Crow Wing County (northwest)

Cemeteries

The township contains these two cemeteries: Diamond Lake and Dorris.

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 1,071 people, 434 households, and 335 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,116 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.04%

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 ...

, 0.28%

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 ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.56% from other races, and 0.75% 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 0.19% of the population. There were 434 households, out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.4% 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, 3.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.8% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.79. In the township the population was spread out, with 21.5% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 32.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $60,882, and the median income for a family was $74,375. Males had a median income of $64,000 versus $40,673 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 $30,067. About 6.6% of families and 7.0% 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 8.7% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

United States National Atlas

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
{{authority control Townships in Aitkin County, Minnesota Townships in Minnesota