Freeland is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
in
Tittabawassee Township,
Saginaw County
Saginaw County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 190,124. The county seat is Saginaw. The county was created by September 10, 1822, and was fully organized on February 9, 1835. The ...
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 ...
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, ...
. It is part of the
Saginaw-Midland-Bay Metropolitan Area. As of the
2020 census, the CDP population was 7,630. The CDP covers an area in the central portion of Tittabawassee Township. The Freeland post office,
ZIP code 48623, serves nearly the entire township, as well as portions of
Midland and
Williams townships to the north,
Frankenlust and
Kochville townships to the east,
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
and
Richland townships to the south, and
Ingersoll Township to the west.
It is the location of
MBS International Airport
MBS International Airport , located in Freeland, Michigan, is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the nearby cities of Midland, Michigan, Midland, Bay City, Michigan, Bay City, and Saginaw, Michigan, Saginaw., effective Nov 10, 2 ...
, which serves three major nearby cities:
Saginaw
Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of ...
,
Bay City and
Midland.
It is also the location of the
Saginaw Correctional Facility, which is a level I, II and IV maximum security prison.
History
The place was home to
Native Americans long before the arrival of European settlers. In the 1819
Treaty of Saginaw
The Treaty of Saginaw, also known as the Treaty with the Chippewa, was made between Gen. Lewis Cass and Chief Mash Kee Yosh, Chief John Okemos, Chief Wasso and other Native American tribes of the Great Lakes region (principally the Ojibwe, bu ...
, in which the
Chippewa,
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, and
Pottawatomi
The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
ceded a large portion of land including Saginaw County to the United States federal government. In that treaty, within the ceded territory, several tracts were reserved for specific groups of Chippewa. One such tract, Black Bird's Village, consisted of on the Tittabawassee (named as the Tetabawasink river in the text of the treaty), very near to the present location of Freeland.
In the 1850s, lumbering outposts developed in the area, one of which was called "Loretta", which was given a post office named "Jay" in April 1856. The office was named for the first postmaster, Jefferson Jaqruth. This outpost was very nearly at the geographical center of Tittawabasse Township. Another settlement was placed just a little to the north. in 1867, one resident of the second locale, George Truesdale, instigated moving the post office from Loretta to his settlement, which retained the name of Jay for several years afterwards.
The name of Freeland comes from "Mammy Freeland" who operated a popular tavern on the river, frequented by lumbermen and rivermen, who came to refer to the entire settlement as Freeland. The name of the post office was changed to Freeland in January 1879. It was also a station on the
Pere Marquette Railroad
The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its p ...
. By another account (Moore), the Freeland family name was prominent in business and politics of the area.
During World War II, the airport now known as MBS international was used to hold German and Japanese prisoners of war.
In 1985, Freeland's Lions Clubs International chapter began the annual
Freeland Walleye Festival.
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 CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (0.45%) is water.
Notable people
*
Aleda E. Lutz, WWII Army Flight Nurse, second most decorated woman in U.S. history.
Demographics
2000 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 2000, there were 5,147 people, 1,441 households, and 1,115 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,527 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 82.86%
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 ...
, 13.04%
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 ...
, 0.64%
Native American, 0.49%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.82% from
other races, and 2.10% 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 3.17% of the population.
There were 1,441 households, out of which 40.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.4% 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, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.6% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 22.1% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 43.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 161.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 182.6 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $55,455, and the median income for a family was $67,083. Males had a median income of $50,225 versus $33,306 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 CDP was $20,470. About 2.7% of families and 2.6% 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 2.0% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
Climate
This
climatic
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorolog ...
region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Freeland has a
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 ...
, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.
Climate Summary for Freeland, Michigan
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Transportation
The main highway running through Freeland is M-47, which goes northbound to US-10, and southbound towards Thomas Township, Michigan, and Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...
References
External links
Saginaw Correctional Facility
Miller Empey Room
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Saginaw County, Michigan
Census-designated places in Michigan
Unincorporated communities in Michigan
Census-designated places in Saginaw County, Michigan