Keeler 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 ...

Van Buren County, Michigan Van Buren County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 75,587. The county seat is Paw Paw, Michigan, Paw Paw. The county was founded in 18 ...

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. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,968. Keeler Township is largely agricultural, though it has a large influx of summer visitors who own cottages or stay at summer resorts in the Sister Lakes area in the township's southwest corner. The Sister Lakes area, though unincorporated, has the largest collection of retail establishments in the township. (The area extends into adjacent Silver Creek Township in Cass County.) Township offices are in Keeler, which also has some stores.

Communities

*Sister Lakes *Keeler

History

In 1964, the Sister Lakes area gained national notoriety when an area resident reported seeing a

Bigfoot Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

-like creature. ''

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'' filed a report after hearing about monster hunters congregating in the area following the claimed sighting. In 2023, a new town hall was buit. Before that, all township government business was conducted in an open room inside the Keeler Fire Department building.

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 (2.88%) is water.

Demographics

At the 2000

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 ...

, there were 2,601 people, 870 households and 629 families residing in the township. 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 1,562 housing units at an average density of . The racial make up of the township was 88.85%

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, 1.35%

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, 1.15% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 5.61% from other races, and 2.88% from two or more races.

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or Latino of any race were 22.57% of the population. There were 870 households, of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% 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, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.13. 29.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.0 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $42,955 and the median family income was $47,083. Males had a median income of $32,069 and females $26,016#. 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 ...

was $19,989. About 9.2% of families and 16.4% 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 20.0% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Ernie Koob (born in Keeler, 1892), baseball pitcher, threw a no-hitter for 1917 St. Louis Browns

References

External links

Sister Lakes websiteSister Lakes Business AssociationSister Lakes Streetscape ProjectSister Lakes Fire Department
{{authority control Townships in Van Buren County, Michigan Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan area Townships in Michigan