Gaastra is a city in Iron 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, ...

. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 347, making it Michigan's third-smallest incorporated city by population after

Omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar People * A variant spelling of the g ...

(259) and

Lake Angelus Lake Angelus is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An affluent northern suburb of Detroit, Lake Angelus is located about north of downtown Detroit. With a population of 287 as of the 2020 census, Lake Angelus is the second ...

(290). In 2020, its population was 316.

History

The land was first purchased in 1879 by Alfred Kidder of Marquette. It was then transferred to several other owners, including Andrew Young in 1884 and Edwin H. Piper in 1902. The city is named after Douwe Gaastra, a building contractor and real estate speculator who bought the land in October 1908 and

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted the town. A post office was established with the first postmaster being Olaf A. Olson on September 26, 1914. It was incorporated as a village in 1919 and as a city in 1949. Olson retired as postmaster in 1953.

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 city has a total area of , all land.

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 347 people, 151 households, and 102 families residing in the city. 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 179 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.3%

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 ...

, 0.6% Native American, and 1.2% 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 1.2% of the population. There were 151 households, of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% 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, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.5% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.82. The median age in the city was 46.7 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 17.9% were from 25 to 44; 25.9% were from 45 to 64; and 25.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 44.4% male and 55.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 339 people, 146 households, and 102 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 164 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.35%

, 0.59% Native American, 0.59% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population. 22.0% were of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, 20.1%

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, 13.9% Finnish, 10.6%

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and 8.1%

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.3% spoke

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and 2.7%

as their first language. There were 146 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were

living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.87. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 20.9% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 26.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,125, and the median income for a family was $35,521. Males had a median income of $24,750 versus $29,583 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 city was $15,797. About 21.2% of families and 22.2% 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 39.5% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Gaastra has no police department and the Caspian / Gaastra Volunteer Fire Department is their joint fire department.

References

Sources

* {{Coord, 46, 03, 30, N, 88, 36, 21, W, type:city_region:US-MI, display=title Cities in Iron County, Michigan