Frederic 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 Crawford 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 1,161 at the 2020 census.

Communities

* Deward is an uninhabited

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 ...

within the township at . Deward was named after lumbering magnate David Ward, whose heirs starting the community when they built a mill in 1901 to exploit that area's vast lumber resources. A post office opened on June 3, 1901. The mill operated until 1912, and by 1932, the community was deserted and the post office closed. * Frederic is an unincorporated community in the northeast part of the township on the middle branch of the Au Sable River at . The Frederic 49733 ZIP Code serves a very large portion of the surrounding areas. Frederic was settled as a village around 1874 as a stop along the

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...

. It was originally called Forest, as it was part of Maple Forest Township. A post office was first established under the name Fredericville on December 17, 1877. The name was shortened to Frederic on August 4, 1886. *Ishaward is an unincorporated community within the northwestern portion of the township at .

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 village has a total area of , of which is land and (0.86%) is water. Frederic Township is in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and occupies the northwest corner of Crawford County, bordered by Otsego County to the north and Kalkaska County to the west. The Au Sable River flows southwards through the eastern part of the township, towards Grayling, while the Manistee River flows southwards through the western part of the township, then veers towards the southwest. Hartwick Pines State Park and the Huron portion of the Huron-Manistee National Forests are nearby.

Major highways

* (passes north–south just east of Frederic Township) * * *

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 1,401 people, 555 households, and 397 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,092 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.14%

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 ...

, 0.14%

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 ...

, 1.14% Native American, 0.07% Asian, and 1.50% 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 1.21% of the population. There were 555 households, out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% 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, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.91. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 28.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $31,923, and the median income for a family was $35,250. Males had a median income of $31,058 versus $20,625 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 $15,273. About 9.8% of families and 12.1% 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 16.4% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Recreation and tourism

*The headwaters of the Au Sable River are on its eastern border. The Manistee River is on its western border. Thousands of acres of rolling terrain, including state and national forest, lie in between. *Frederic Township is home to numerous outdoor sports such as

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

, horseback riding,

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

, and

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. It also offers hundreds of miles of off-road vehicle and snowmobile trails that are accessible from the village. *Forbush Corners in Frederic is a world-recognized center for education and training in cross country skiing, and benefits from early and late snow due to a "snow belt micro climate". Accomplished amateur ski racer David Forbush designed, maintains and grooms "one of the finest privately owned systems in the Midwest."Rankings and Discussion of Forbush cornersForbush Corners website
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Notes

Sources

External links

Frederic Township official website

{{authority control Townships in Crawford County, Michigan Townships in Michigan