Prudenville 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 Roscommon 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 1,643 at the 2020 census. Prudenville is located within Denton Township.

History

The area received its first post office on September 6, 1875 under the name Prudenville, and it was soon changed to the name Edna on January 10, 1876. The name Edna existed until it was changed back to Prudenville on January 14, 1886. The Prudenville post office was discontinued on August 15, 1911, but reestablished 10 years later on August 30, 1921. The post office remains in operation and is located at 899 West Houghton Lake Drive ( M-55). The

Homestead Act of 1862 The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...

, which granted free land to travelers moving west, prompted settlers to the Prudenville area in 1870 due to its plentiful lumber resources. The growing community was named after early developer Peter Pruden, and the community grew to include a post office, two hotels, many businesses, and a school. In 1882, the Roscommon Lumber Company built a "stand-alone" trestle railroad to assist logging crews in pushing timber into the east bay of Houghton Lake. The logs were floated across the lake into the draining

Muskegon River The Muskegon River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 21, 2011 river in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Fr ...

and further down the river to the mills of

Muskegon Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

on the shores of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

. During its operation from 1882 to 1887, the company employed 700 workers and logged 175 million

board feet The board foot or board-foot is a unit of measurement for the volume of lumber in the United States and Canada. It equals the volume of a board that is in length, one foot in width, and in thickness, or exactly liters. Board foot can be abbrev ...

of white and Norway pine. In 2004, the Roscommon Lumber Company and the community of Prudenville were dually listed as a

Michigan State Historic Site The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office is one of 59 state historic preservation offices established according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that plays a role in implementing federal historic preservation policy in th ...

. A historic marker was dedicated in Trestle Park on September 6, 2014.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (23.38%) is water. Prudenville has its own post office with the 48651 ZIP Code. The Prudenville post office serves most of Denton Township and smaller portions of Roscommon Township to the south, Nester Township to the southwest, and Backus Township and Higgins Township to the northeast. Prudenville is an

listed by the

as a

(CDP) for statistical purposes only, and the community itself has no legal autonomy as an incorporated municipality. The western portion of the Prudenville CDP also includes a small portion of the Houghton Lake 48629 ZIP Code. Prudenville is considered part of the

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...

region. It is located on the southeast shores of Houghton Lake, which is the state's largest inland lake. Portions of the

Au Sable State Forest The Au Sable State Forest is a state forest in the north-central Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It is operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The Au Sable State Forest is a byproduct of the lumbering boom in Michigan during t ...

(Roscommon State Forest Management Unit) and Backus Creek State Game Area are within close proximity.

Major highways

* is known locally as S. Gladwin Road; briefly runs concurrent with M-55 before continuing north as E. Houghton Lake Drive * is known locally as W. Houghton Lake Drive and then exiting under the name W. West Branch Road *, located just east of the boundaries of the Prudenville CDP

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 1,737 people, 818 households, and 542 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,395 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.39%

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 ...

, 0.12%

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 ...

, 0.69% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 0.63% 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 0.52% of the population. There were 819 households, out of which 18.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% 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, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.58. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 17.6% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 28.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $29,821, and the median income for a family was $36,313. Males had a median income of $34,135 versus $20,625 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 $19,018. About 9.4% of families and 11.6% 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 25.4% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Roscommon County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Census-designated places in Roscommon County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites Populated places established in 1875 1875 establishments in Michigan