Indian River 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 ...

(CDP) in Cheboygan 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 1,950 at the 2020 census. The CDP is located in Tuscarora Township between

Burt Lake Burt Lake is a lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The western shore of the lake is on the boundary with Emmet County. The lake is named after William Austin Burt, who, together with John Mullett, made a federal survey of ...

and

Mullett Lake Mullett Lake is a lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake is named after John Mullett, who, together with William A. Burt, made a federal survey of the area from 1840 to 1843. A neighboring lake was named after Burt. Hi ...

. As an unincorporated community, Indian River has no legal autonomy of its own but does have its own post office with the 49749 ZIP Code, which also serves small portions of several surrounding townships.

History

The area of Indian River was first settled as early as 1876. The community was founded two years later by land owner Floyd Martin and surveyed and platted by Oliver Hayden by 1880. The new settlement was named after the Indian River, which flows through the community. A post office was established on September 22, 1879. The North Central State Trail goes through the town. The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods, an open-air sanctuary, is located in Indian River and dedicated to Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (36.27%) is water. Indian River is situated along the course of the Indian River, which connects

and

. The Sturgeon River also drains into Burt Lake within the community.

Burt Lake State Park Burt Lake State Park is a public recreation area covering approximately on the south shore of Burt Lake at Indian River, Michigan, Indian River in Cheboygan County, Michigan, Cheboygan County, Michigan. The state park features of sandy shoreli ...

is located within the community on the southeastern shores of Burt Lake.

Major highways

* runs south–north through the center of the community and continues north to the

Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ; also referred to as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac) is a suspension bridge that connects the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper and Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. It spans the Str ...

. * runs from Alanson and runs through the southern portion of the community, meeting I-75 and continuing east to Onaway and Rogers City. * follows former route of US 27, has its southern terminus at I-75 within Indian River and continues north to Cheboygan.

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 2,008 people, 929 households, and 614 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,586 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.16%

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 ...

, 0.05%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.90% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 1.59% 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 1.44% of the population. There were 929 households, out of which 23.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% 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, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.65. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 19.0% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $34,854, and the median income for a family was $41,667. Males had a median income of $40,139 versus $21,042 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 CDP was $20,191. About 5.5% of families and 7.1% 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 8.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Indian River Tourist Bureau

Indian River Chamber of Commerce

Indian River site
provided by the ''Straitsland Resorter'' *
Straitsland Resorter
', Indian River newspaper {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Cheboygan County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Cheboygan County, Michigan Populated places established in 1876 1876 establishments in Michigan