Grayling 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 ...

Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States: * Crawford County, Arkansas * Crawford County, Georgia * Crawford County, Illinois * Crawford County, Indiana * Crawford County, Iowa * Crawford County, Kansas * Crawford 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 5,642 as of the 2020 census, down from 5,827 at the 2010 census. The city of Grayling is surrounded by Grayling Charter Township, but both are administered autonomously.

Communities

*Babbits Resort 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 ...

along the Au Sable River at . *Bucks is an unincorporated community located within the township at . Bucks was settled by the Holloway Bucks family in 1870. Originally called Buck's Hill, it became a stop along the

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...

in 1889. It was then known as Buck's Crossing and served as a residency and stopover for the railroad builders. The name was later shorterned to Bucks. The community contains no more structures or residents, and it is now part of

Camp Grayling Camp Grayling is a military training facility located near Grayling, Michigan, United States, primarily in Crawford County, and spread over three counties. Camp Grayling is the main training facility for the Michigan National Guard and is the l ...

. *Collens Landing is an unincorporated community along the eastern shores of Lake Margrethe at . *Danish Landing is an unincorporated community along the northeastern shores of Lake Margrethe at . *Five Corners is an unincorporated community located along M-72 in the southeast portion of the township at . *Lake Margrethe is an unincorporated community located along the eastern shores of Lake Margrethe just south of the community of Collens Landing at . *Louis Cabin Landing is an unincorporated community located along the Au Sable River at . *McIntyre Landing is an unincorporated community along the northernmost shores of Lake Margrethe at . *Rasmus is an unincorporated community located within Camp Grayling at . Rasmus Hanson founded the community in 1914 along the shores of Lake Margrethe, which he named after his wife Margrethe. It became a stop along the Michigan Central Railroad as part of Camp Hanson, which later became Camp Grayling. *Wildwood is an unincorporated community located along F-32 in the eastern portion of the township at .

History

The township was named for the grayling fish that lived in the Au Sable River.

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 township has a total area of , of which is land and (2.29%) is water. Grayling Township is the second-largest

by land area in the state of Michigan (after Ironwood Township) and also the largest municipality by land area in the

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. Grayling Township occupies a large area in the center of Crawford County and extends west to the border with Kalkaska County. The city of Grayling is located southwest of the township center, along

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

, which serves the township with five exits.

, the main training facility for the Michigan National Guard, occupies all of the township west of the city of Grayling. The Au Sable River flows west to east across the center of the township, joined by its East Branch from the north, while Lake Margrethe is in the western part of the township within

. Hartwick Pines State Park is also located within Grayling Township.

Major highways

* * * * (named locally as Hartwick Pines Road) *

Demographics

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 6,516 people, 2,420 households, and 1,802 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 3,945 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 94.83%

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 ...

, 3.04%

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 ...

, 0.48% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 1.32% 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 0.80% of the population. There were 2,420 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% 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, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.91. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.3 males. The median income for a household in the township was $34,690, and the median income for a family was $37,963. Males had a median income of $30,973 versus $22,857 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 $17,355. About 9.1% of families and 11.7% 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 16.4% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

Sources

External links

Grayling Township official websiteGrayling Regional Chamber of Commerce
{{Crawford County, Michigan Townships in Crawford County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan