Grand Tower Township is one of sixteen

townships 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 ...

in Jackson County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 567 and it contained 308 housing units.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Grand Tower Township has a total area of , of which (or 94.45%) is land and (or 5.55%) is water. A small portion of Missouri, known as Grand Tower Island, lies on the Mississippi River's eastern side adjacent to Grand Tower Township. Partially surrounded by an

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

, the island can only be accessed by water or by a road that begins and ends in Illinois.DeLorme. ''Illinois Atlas & Gazetteer''. 6th ed. Yarmouth:

DeLorme DeLorme Publishing Company is a producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company's main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and rec ...

, 2010, 88. .

Cities, towns, villages

* Grand Tower

Unincorporated towns

* Howardton at (This list is based on USGS data and may include former settlements.)

Adjacent townships

* Sand Ridge Township (north) * Pomona Township (east) * Fountain Bluff Township (northwest)

Cemeteries

The township contains these four cemeteries: Goodbread, Henson, Hudson and Walker Hill.

Major highways

Illinois Route 3 Illinois Route 3 (IL 3) is a major north–south arterial state highway in southwestern Illinois. It has its southern terminus at Cairo Junction (about north of Cairo, Illinois, Cairo) at the intersection of U.S. Route 51 in Illinois, U.S ...

Rivers

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 567 people, 241 households, and 156 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 308 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 94.36%

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 ...

, 0.35%

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 ...

, 0.00% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.00%

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 ...

, 0.88% from other races, and 4.41% 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 1.59% of the population. There were 241 households, out of which 27.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.30% were married couples living together, 9.13% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 35.27% were non-families. 19.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.08. The township's age distribution consisted of 22.3% under the age of 18, 12.9% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $52,917, and the median income for a family was $65,469. Males had a median income of $41,282 versus $21,500 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 $24,436. About 4.5% of families and 12.0% 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 16.5% of those under age 18 and 21.3% of those age 65 or over.

School districts

* Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186 * Shawnee Community Unit School District 84

Political districts

Illinois' 12th congressional district The 12th congressional district of Illinois is a congressional district in the southern part of U.S. state of Illinois. It has been represented by Republican Mike Bost since 2015. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+22, it is the most Republ ...

* State House District 115 * State Senate District 58

References

*
United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

United States National Atlas

External links

{{authority control Townships in Jackson County, Illinois Townships in Illinois