Pickford 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 Chippewa 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 of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,791.

Geography

Pickford Township is located in southeastern Chippewa County on the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula of ...

. It is bordered to the south by

Mackinac County Mackinac County ( , ) is a County (United States), county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 10,834. The county seat is St. Ignace, Michigan, St. Ignace. F ...

. The northeastern part of the township extends into Munuscong Lake, a large bay on the St. Marys River. The

Munuscong River The Munuscong River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 21, 2011 river on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. It is a tributary of Munuscong L ...

flows through the center of the township into Munuscong Lake, passing the communities of Pickford, Stirlingville, and Kelden. 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 9.42%, is water.

Communities

*Kelden (also spelled Keldon) 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 the township at . A post office was established in May 1896. *

Pickford Pickford is a surname, and may refer to * Sir Alfred Pickford (1872–1947), Scouting luminary and friend of Lord Baden-Powell * Charlotte Hennessey (1873–1928), aka Charlotte Smith Pickford, Canadian-American actress, mother of Mary, Lottie, and ...

is an unincorporated community on M-129 about south of M-48 at . It is at the junction of two

survey township A survey township, sometimes called a Congressional township or just township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System and by Canada's Dominion Land Survey is a nominally-square area of land that is nominally six survey miles (a ...

s, and a portion is within Marquette Township in adjacent

. Charles W. Pickford from

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

first settled here on the

in 1877. A post office was established in February 1880. The Pickford ZIP code, 49774, serves most of Pickford Township as well as portions of southern Bruce Township, eastern Raber Township, and northeast Marquette Township. *Stirlingville is an unincorporated community in the township at This was at first called "Jolly's Landing" and was renamed for William P. Stirling, a local storekeeper and steamboat operator. A post office was established in February 1888. * Barbeau is to the northeast in Bruce Township, but the Barbeau ZIP code 49710 serves the northeast portion of the township. * Goetzville and

Stalwart Stalwart may refer to: Ships * , several Royal Australian Navy ships * , several US Navy ships * ''Stalwart''-class ocean surveillance ship, a US Navy class ** , lead ship of the class * RSS ''Stalwart'', a Singapore Navy frigate Places * Sta ...

are to the southeast, and the ZIP code 49736 serves the southeast corner of the township. *

Kinross Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinro ...

is to the northwest, and the Kinross ZIP code 49752 serves an area in the northwest part of the township. * Kincheloe is to the northwest, and the Kincheloe ZIP code 49788 serves a small area in the northwest part of the township.

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 1,584 people, 607 households, and 475 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 14.6 per square mile (5.6/km). There were 776 housing units at an average density of 7.2 per square mile (2.8/km). The racial makeup of the township was 92.11%

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 ...

, 0.06%

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 ...

, 5.81% Native American, 0.06% Asian, and 1.96% 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 0.38% of the population. There were 607 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.8% 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, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 17.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.97. In the township the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $40,850, and the median income for a family was $43,882. Males had a median income of $34,444 versus $22,007 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 $16,320. About 4.1% 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 8.0% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over.

Media

* 105.5 FM -

WMKD WMKD (105.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Pickford, Michigan and the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan & Ontario markets. Owned by Sovereign Communications, the station airs a country format. WMKD's studios and transmitter are located in Sault St ...

(

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

)

Climate

This

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorolog ...

region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Pickford has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Pickford Township, Michigan
/ref>

References

{{authority control Townships in Chippewa County, Michigan Townships in Michigan