Free Soil is a village in Mason 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 158 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Free Soil Township.

History

The current village is actually the second settlement in Mason County to be named Free Soil. There are still a few homes in the area now known as "Old Freesoil". The railroad was extended to Free Soil around 1882, and the village was incorporated in 1912. The community derives its name from the

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. The party was focused o ...

Geography

Free Soil is in northern Mason County, northeast of Ludington, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

( by road), and southeast of Manistee. 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 , all land. The village is close to the intersection of Free Soil and Custer Roads, and the

Big Sable River The Big Sable River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed November 21, 2011 river in Michigan in the United States. It originates in Lake County in the chain of lakes kn ...

runs just north of the village limits.

Demographics

2010 census

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 2010, there were 144 people, 64 households, and 41 families residing in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 84 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 95.8%

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 ...

, 1.4%

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 ...

, and 2.8% Native American. There were 64 households, of which 23.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% 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, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.9% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.76. The median age in the village was 44.9 years. 20.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.7% were from 25 to 44; 28.5% were from 45 to 64; and 20.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 51.4% male and 48.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 177 people, 75 households, and 48 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 93 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 93.22%

, 2.26%

, 0.56% Native American, and 3.95% from two or more races. There were 75 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were

living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.02. In the village, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $27,083, and the median income for a family was $36,000. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $20,833 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 village was $13,329. About 5.6% of families and 9.8% 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 9.8% of those under the age of eighteen and 11.4% of those 65 or over.

Education

Free Soil previously operated a two-building K-12 school district, with the high school closing in 2007 and elementary closing in 2011. The school had been in operation since 1913.

References

{{authority control Villages in Mason County, Michigan Villages in Michigan Populated places established in 1912 1912 establishments in Michigan