Paw Paw Lake 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 ...

in Berrien 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, ...

. It is a

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) for statistical purposes, without legal status as a municipality. The community is located within areas of both Coloma Charter Township and Watervliet Township in the area surrounding

Paw Paw Lake __NOTOC__ Paw Paw Lake is a lake in Coloma Township and Watervliet Township in Berrien County, Michigan. The lake was the site of a tourist area in the early 20th century. This area became the census-designated place of the same name. It is t ...

and Little Paw Paw Lake, excluding the cities of Watervliet and Coloma. The population of the CDP was 3,323 at the 2020 census.

History

The area which became the CDP was the site of a tourist area in the early 20th century. An 1894

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

newspaper article was the catalyst in making the shore a resort area, and a rail line extension from nearby Coloma in 1896 started the building boom. Pavilions, hotels, and cottages soon followed, with nationally known acts performing at the pavilions. Most of these buildings no longer exist.

Deer Forest

The nearby Deer Forest animal park in Coloma Township opened at the end of the heyday of the resort area. Though many of its assets were auctioned off on September 26, 2009, the park continued to operate through the 2014 season. It closed permanently at the end of that season and animals were dispersed to various other locations. The property itself was auctioned off on June 29, 2015. It was auctioned again in 2021 and sold in March 2022.

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 CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 24.47%, is water, consisting primarily of Paw Paw Lake and Little Paw Paw Lake. The

Paw Paw River The Paw Paw River is located in the U.S. state of Michigan in the southwest portion of the lower peninsula. It is formed by the confluence of the north and south branches at in Waverly Township, Van Buren County, Michigan, Waverly Township in th ...

, outlet of the lakes, forms most of the southern boundary of the CDP. North Coloma Road forms the western edge of the CDP, Hagar Shore Road the north edge, and highway M-140 the eastern edge. The cities of Watervliet and Coloma touch the CDP at its southeast and southwest corners, respectively.

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 3,944 people, 1,655 households, and 1,128 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 2,363 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.63%

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 ...

, 0.58%

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 ...

, 0.51% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.05%

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 ...

, 0.20% from other races, and 1.34% 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 1.37% of the population. There were 1,655 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% 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, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.83. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 22.4% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,216, and the median income for a family was $42,377. Males had a median income of $35,112 versus $20,833 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 $21,003. About 5.2% of families and 6.6% 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 9.5% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

History

Deer Forest

Geography

Demographics

References

Further reading