Ray 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 Macomb 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 3,780.

Geography

The township is in north-central Macomb County. The village of

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

touches the northwest corner of the township. The city of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

is to the northeast, and Mount Clemens, the Macomb

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, is the same distance to the south. The township is within

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

, with

downtown Detroit Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a Neighborhoods in Detroit, residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Locally, "downtown" tends to refer to the 1.4 square mile region bordered by M-10 (Michigan high ...

to the south-southwest. 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 ...

, Ray Township has a total area of , of which , or 0.26%, are water. The township is fully within the Clinton River watershed, flowing to

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair () is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day they first saw the lake. ...

east of Mount Clemens. Wolcott Mill Metropark, a park, is located entirely within the township. The park is home to the Wolcott Mill, built in 1847.

Communities

There are no incorporated villages within the township, but there are several unincorporated communities: *Davis, originally called Brooklyn and renamed Davis in 1876 (to avoid confusion with

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in Jackson County), is located in the southwest corner of the township at Romeo Plank and 27 Mile roads ( ; Elevation: 653 ft./199 m.). Davis was a thriving small community for several decades, peaking in the 1940s. Today, it houses a Baptist church, a Masonic Temple & banquet hall, a cemetery, and stores and other businesses. *Meade is located in the southeast portion of the township at on the boundary with Macomb Township at 26 Mile Road and North Avenue. *Ray Center is located east of the center of the township at Hartway and 29 Mile roads west of Indian Trail ( ; Elevation: 643 ft./196 m.). *Wolcott Mills is located at Wolcott Road and Indian Trail ( ; Elevation: 682 ft./208 m.).

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, the population of Ray Township was 3,780. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,739. There were 1,404 households and 1,112 families. The population was 96.4% non-Hispanic white, 0.4% African-American, 0.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.5% reporting two or more races and 1.7% Latino. 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 3,740 people, 1,305 households, and 1,062 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,349 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.78%

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 ...

, 0.16%

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 ...

, 0.29% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.45% from other races, and 0.94% 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 1.18% of the population. There were 1,305 households, out of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.0% 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 18.6% were non-families. 15.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.17. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $70,081, and the median income for a family was $76,880. Males had a median income of $51,261 versus $26,830 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 $26,604. About 1.4% of families and 1.8% 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 1.7% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Ray Township is governed under state statute by an elected board of trustees with 2 trustees and includes a supervisor, clerk and treasurer. The three of which serve as executive officers of the township with the supervisor, chairs the board and is in charge of assessing and general all other matters outside the clerk's and treasurer's authority. For public library services, the Township runs the Ray Township Library in Wolcott Mills.

School district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

serving the Township residents are Armada Area Schools, New Haven Community Schools, Romeo Community Schools and Utica Community Schools. Road maintenance is handled by the Macomb County Department of Roads.

References

External links

*
Ray Township Library
{{authority control Townships in Macomb County, Michigan Townships in Michigan