Hope Township is a

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a County (United States), county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England town, Ne ...

of Barry 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 per the 2020 census, its population was 3,154.

History

In the 1830s and 1840s, the area around Hope, especially along the Cedar Creek, was a center of Protestant missionary work among the Potomatami. Hope was organized as a township in 1850.

Communities

*Cedar Creek is a locale in the southeast part of the township at In 1849, Isaac LaGrange built the first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

in the township on the Cedar Creek. A post office named Cedar Creek was established in 1850, with LaGrange as the first postmaster. The office was permanently closed in December 1904. *Cloverdale is an unincorporated community within the township on Long Lake served by a U.S. post office with a ZIP code of 49035. *Schultz (also spelled Shultz) is an unincorporated community in the township at . It was a station on the Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw Railway. A post office operated from November 24, 1888, until July 31, 1933.

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 , or 10.01%, is water.

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 3,283 people, 1,252 households, and 942 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,659 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.41%

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 ...

, 0.24%

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 ...

, 0.76% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 1.16% 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 1.16% of the population. There were 1,252 households, out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% 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, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 20.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 2.98. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $41,983, and the median income for a family was $51,337. Males had a median income of $35,160 versus $25,436 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 $19,399. About 6.8% of families and 6.8% 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 11.9% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Hope Township official website

{{authority control Townships in Barry County, Michigan Grand Rapids metropolitan area 1850 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1850 Townships in Michigan