Frenchtown Charter Township is a

charter township A charter township is a form of Local government in the United States, local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. While all townships in Michigan are organized governments, a charter township has been granted a charter, which allows it cert ...

within Monroe 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 21,609 as per the 2020 census. The township is bordered on the south by the city of

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

Sterling State Park William C. Sterling State Park is a public recreation area located in Frenchtown Charter Township with a small portion lying within the city limits of Monroe, Michigan. It is the only Michigan state park located on Lake Erie. The park encomp ...

and the

Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Monroe, in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan on approximately . All units of the plant are operated by the DTE Energy Electric Company and ...

are located within Frenchtown.

History

Frenchtown_Township_Michigan_Historical_Marker

The area was long occupied by Native Americans, including the historic

Potawatomi 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, ...

. They had trading relations with

French-Canadians French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the provi ...

in the area. The Frenchtown area reflected the ethnicity of its first European settlers, French Canadians who took land along the banks of the

River Raisin The River Raisin (, 'River of Sturgeon') is a river in southeast Michigan, United States, that flows in a generally easterly direction through Ice age, glacial sediments before emptying into Lake Erie. The River Raisin drainage basin covers app ...

as early as 1784. There had been other French colonial settlements closer to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and on both sides of the

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

. Their descendants are known as

Muskrat French The Muskrat French (; also known as Mushrat French or Detroit River French Canadien) are a cultural group and dialect found primarily in southeastern Michigan along the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, the western and southern shores of Lake E ...

. Around the same time, the Sandy Creek Settlement was founded near this by Joseph Porlier Benec. The United States acquired this area, which had been considered part of British Canadian territory after the

Treaty of Paris (1783) The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and representatives of the United States on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized ...

settling the American Revolutionary War. It was specifically part of state claims (from 1783); the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

(1787);

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by an organic act that President of the United States, President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an Historic regions of the United States, organized incor ...

(1803);

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

(1805); and, finally, the

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, ...

(1837). During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, the area was the site of the

Battle of Frenchtown The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23, 1813, during the War of 1812. It was fought between the ...

, in which 397 Americans were killed by the coalition of

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and Native Americans; this was the highest number of American fatalities of any battle during the war. The battlefield site today is within the

River Raisin National Battlefield Park The River Raisin National Battlefield Park preserves the site of the Battle of Frenchtown as the only national battlefield marking a site of the War of 1812. It was established as the 393rd unit of the United States National Park Service under T ...

, which was designated in 2009 and falls within the present-day city limits of

. In 1817, that portion of Frenchtown was renamed and incorporated as the village of Monroe, named in honor of President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

's planned visit to the Michigan Territory later that year. In the same year, the village of Monroe was named as 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 ...

of the newly created Monroe County. Monroe was incorporated as a city in 1837. At that time, the remaining area known as Frenchtown was reorganized as a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

, encompassing much of the northern portion of the county which was the area from the River Raisin to the

Huron River The Huron River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed November 7, 2011 river in southeast Michigan, southeastern Michigan, rising out of the Huron Swamp in Springfie ...

at Wayne County's southern border. Shortly afterwards, the northern portion of the township was broken off to form Ash Township. Later, by 1867, Berlin Charter Township was formed from another territory of the township. Additionally, the city of Monroe annexed pieces of the southern portion of Frenchtown several times. As a result, the boundary between the current Frenchtown Charter Township and the city limits of Monroe is jagged.

Communities

*Brest is a former settlement located along the shores of Lake Erie. It was settled as a port by the French as early as 1810 and named after

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port, port city in the Finistère department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an impor ...

. In 1836, the Gibralter & Flat Rock Company developed the area of Brest and Gibralter to the north. The community of Brest had its own post office from July 15, 1836, to July 8, 1863, and again from February 28, 1890, to August 15, 1903. Gibralter succeeded and later became the city of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, but the Brest port failed. Brest can be seen on
1911 map
of Monroe County in what is now the community of Stony Point. * Detroit Beach 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

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 ...

located at . *Golfcrest is an unincorporated community at . *Loranger is a former settlement within the township. Settled in 1832, it centered around the Loranger

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

along Stony Creek. The community never really developed but did have its own post office briefly from January 16, 1865 to April 26, 1869. The gristmill was saved and relocated to

The Henry Ford The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, within Metro Detroit. The museum collection contai ...

in 1928. The

Edward Loranger House The Edward Loranger House is a private residence located at 7211 South Stoney Creek Road in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan, Frenchtown Charter Township in Monroe County, Michigan, Monroe County, Michigan. It was listed as a Michigan Sta ...

, which was built in 1825, remains in its original location along Stony Creek. * Newport is an unincorporated community centered at mostly in Berlin Township. The Newport 48166 ZIP Code serves the northern portion of Frenchtown Township. *Pointe aux Peaux is an unincorporated community located near Stony Point along the shores of Lake Erie at . * Steiner is an unincorporated community at . Steiner had its own post office from September 7, 1886 to July 31, 1925. *Stony Creek is a historic community located along a railway line at . Stony Creek had its own post office very briefly from July 6, 1840 to January 18, 1841. * Stony Point is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located at . * Woodland Beach is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located at .

Geography

Sterling_State_Park_Michigan_picnic_area

The township is in eastern Monroe County and is bordered to the southeast by

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. Many of the township's communities are located near the lake.

is located along the southern edge of the township and is the only Michigan state park on Lake Erie. Small pieces of the township are organized into the

Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is the only international wildlife refuge in North America. Established in 2001 and managed jointly by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service, it is located ...

. Frenchtown Township is bordered on the south by the city of

, but a small portion of the southern border touches Monroe Charter Township. Raisinville Township is to the west, and Ash and Berlin Township border on the north. A very small portion of the northwest corner of Frenchtown Township touches Exeter Township. The

serves as the boundary between Frenchtown and the city of Monroe for a short length near Lake Erie and then again further upstream for a small portion near the Custer Airport. Sandy Creek also runs through the township. The southeast border of Frenchtown Township, as well as the rest of the county's Lake Erie shoreline, is at the lowest elevation in the state of Michigan at above sea level. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the township has a total area of , of which are land and , or 3.19%, are water.

Major highways

* runs northeast-southwest through the center of the township, with access at North Dixie Highway (exit 15) and Nadeau Road (exit 18). * has its southern terminus within the township at the boundary with Berlin Township. * runs parallel just west of Interstate 75. * US 25 Michigan 1948

US 25 U.S. Route 25 or U.S. Highway 25 (US 25) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for in the Southern United States, Southern and Midwestern United States, Midwestern U.S. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick ...

is a former highway that ran through the township but was replaced with the present-day U.S. Route 24 and M-125 in the early-1970s. * runs through the township before its northern terminus at Telegraph Road. * M-130 1948

M-130 (North Custer Road) is a former highway that runs briefly through the southwestern portion of the township. It was a state highway from 1929 to 1955. * M-56 (North Dixie Hwy) is a former highway that ran north-south through the township near Lake Erie. It was a state highway decommissioned in 1957.

Demographics

As per 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 20,428 people, 7,733 households, and 5,598 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 8,244 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 95.51%

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 ...

, 1.59%

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 ...

, 0.41% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.45% from other races, and 1.49% 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 2.45% of the population. There were 7,733 households, out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% 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, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.10. In the township the population was spread out, with 27.5% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the township was $47,699, and the median income for a family was $54,032. Males had a median income of $44,338 versus $25,787 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 $21,335. About 4.9% 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 6.4% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Frenchtown Township is served by three separate public school districts. The majority of the township is served by Jefferson Schools, which has its middle school and high school within the township, as well as one of its two elementary schools. The northernmost portion of the township is served by Airport Community Schools, while the western portion of the township is served by Monroe Public Schools. Triumph Academy is a

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

located within the township.

Images

File:Vivian Library and former town hall Frenchtown Township Michigan.JPG, File:Bluebush Road Library & Fire Station No.3 Frenchtown Township Michigan.JPG, File:LorangerHouse.jpg, File:Fermi_NPP.jpg, File:NATradingPost.jpg, File:Monroe Golf & Country Club Frenchtown Township Michigan.JPG,

References

Sources

External links

* {{Authority control French-Canadian culture in Michigan French-American culture in Michigan Townships in Monroe County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan Michigan in the War of 1812 Populated places established in 1784 1784 establishments in the United States Michigan populated places on Lake Erie