Raber 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, ...

. The population was 632 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Raber Township is located in eastern Chippewa County and is bordered to the northeast by the St. Marys River, with St. Joseph Island in the

Algoma District Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The name was created by an American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793–1864), who was appointed Indian agent to the Ojibwe ...

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 ...

, Canada, on the far side. The southern boundary and part of the western boundary of the township follows the

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 ...

line, with the southern boundary very close to the northern shore of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

Lake Superior State Forest Lake Superior State Forest is a state forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It is operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The North Country Trail utilizes this state forest for 43 miles (69 km) of i ...

occupies large areas in the northern and southern parts of the township. 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 31.64%, is water. DeTour Village is to the southeast, while the DeTour Village 49725 ZIP Code serves the southeast corner of Raber Township.

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 to the northwest, while the Pickford 49774 ZIP Code serves the northwest corner of Raber Township.

Communities

* Goetzville 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 on M-48 approximately north of M-134 at . The Goetzville ZIP code 49736 serves the central portion of the township, as well a small area in the southeast corner of Pickford Township and areas in the northwest of Detour Township. The Goetz family settled here in 1882. A post office was established in October 1882 spelled as Gatesville, but was changed to Goetzville in February 1917. * Raber is an unincorporated community on Raber Bay in the St. Marys River. It is approximately north-northeast of Goetzville at . The first white settler is considered to be John Stevenson from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, who emigrated here in 1878. It was named for Mueller M. Raber, a pioneer lumberman in the area. A post office operated from September 1889 until December 1954. * Stalwart is an unincorporated community in the township on M-48, approximately west-northwest of Goetzville at . Stalwart is an acceptable name for the Goetzville ZIP code. Stalwart was first settled in 1878. An application was submitted in 1881 for a post office to be named "Garfield", after U.S. President

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot two months earlier. A preacher, lawyer, and Civi ...

, but the name was already in use at the time by another post office. The application was resubmitted for a post office named "Arthur", after

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21st president of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was a Republican from New York who previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. ...

, and was denied for the same reason. Because Garfield and Arthur represented what was known as the

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 ...

faction of the Republican Party, the application was made for the post office to be named "Stalwart". The office was established in February 1881.

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 670 people, 310 households, and 208 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 6.8 per square mile (2.6/km). There were 602 housing units at an average density of 6.1 per square mile (2.4/km). The racial makeup of the township was 91.64%

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 ...

, 0.60%

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 ...

, 4.33% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.15% from other races, and 3.13% 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 1.64% of the population. There were 310 households, out of which 19.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% 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, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.63. In the township the population was spread out, with 16.3% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 21.9% from 25 to 44, 30.6% from 45 to 64, and 26.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $27,589, and the median income for a family was $36,964. Males had a median income of $30,469 versus $23,750 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 $18,956. About 8.5% of families and 11.5% 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 20.3% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Raber Township official website
{{authority control Townships in Chippewa County, Michigan Townships in Michigan Populated places on Lake Huron in the United States