Mayfield 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 Lapeer 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, ...

. The population was 7,988 at the 2020 Census.

History

Mayfield Township was first organized in 1843 when John B. Evans, John Ryan and Martin Stiles gave notice to the township's inhabitants that a town meeting would be held on April 17 at the school near Stiles' home. 34 freeholders met that day, elected the township's first officers, and voted to raise $125 to pay expenses and establish a burial ground. The cemetery was later named after Stiles. Six years after it was organized, Mayfield Township was attached to Lapeer Township in a move by the state legislature. That arrangement continued until March 13, 1869, when the township was reorganized. In the years following, the lumber industry grew and by 1874, there were ten saw mills operating in Mayfield Township. The success of the lumber industry resulted in three thriving villages within the township: Fish Lake, Five Lakes and Millville. As land was cleared of its trees, it was sold to individuals for homesteads and farms. By 1884, the village of Fish Lake was abandoned. The census of that year reported no saw, shingle, or lathe mills still operating. Much of the former prime lumbering lands in the township were bought by the Michigan Department of Conservation in 1944. The Michigan State Game Area comprises much of the land once owned by Mayfield Township's early settlers. Besides the mills at Millville, the township's longest running business may have been the Callis brick making plant. William Callis moved to Mayfield in the mid-1850s. The plant on the family homestead was built about that time and operated for many years. The home Callis built for his son, William Elmer, at the corner of Callis and Davis Lake Roads still stands. Mayfield Township has also been home to two of the most successful manufacturing businesses in Lapeer County's history. In 1962, Vesely's Apache camping trailer was named Michigan's Consumer Product of the Year. At one time, the plant was the world's largest camping trailer factory, producing up to 2,000 per month. Next, the plant was home to Durakon Industries, which manufactured pickup truck bedliners. Two historical sites in the township recognized with special markers from the Lapeer County Historical Society are the former villages of Millville and Fish Lake.

Government

Supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...

- Dan Engelman

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

- Julie Schlaud

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

- Dan Frisch

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

- Beth Potter-Knowlton

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 35.1 square miles (90.8 km²), of which 34.8 square miles (90.1 km²) is land and 0.3 square mile (0.7 km²) (0.80%) 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 7,659 people, 2,685 households, and 2,107 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,774 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.43%

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 ...

, 0.25%

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 ...

, 0.30% Native American, 0.39% Asian, 0.03%

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 ...

, 0.38% from other races, and 1.23% 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 1.72% of the population. There were 2,685 households, out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.1% 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, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.5% were non-families. 17.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.15. In the township the population was spread out, with 27.4% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $50,822, and the median income for a family was $54,827. Males had a median income of $48,494 versus $26,381 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 $20,399. About 3.7% of families and 4.7% 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 5.2% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

3
Official Mayfield Township website
{{authority control Townships in Lapeer County, Michigan Townships in Michigan