Salem 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 Allegan 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 5,156 at the 2020 census, up from 3,486 at the 2000 census.

Communities

Burnips 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 ...

near the center of the township at . It was first known as Salem Center. James Burnips was a local landowner and built the first store there in 1856. He began to sell lots of land for building in 1858. A post office named "Burnip's Corners" opened in 1868, and the name was changed to "Burnips" in 1915. The ZIP code is 49314. Diamond Springs is an unincorporated locale in the southwest corner of the township on the Rabbit River at . It was first settled in 1867 and had a post office from 1871 until 1875, and then reopened six months later until closing in 1905. New Salem is an unincorporated community in the northeast corner of the township at . A post office first opened there in 1857 and opened and closed several times until 1865, after which it remained in operation until closing in 1905. New Salem is the home o
St. Mary's Visitation Catholic Church
which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2016.Schichtel, Barbara. Their Faith Lives On: St. Mary's Visitation Parish Histories, New Salem, Michigan. Altona, MB, Canada: Friesens Books, 2013.

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 township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.92%, is water.

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 3,486 people, 1,151 households, and 941 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,181 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 96.99%

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 ...

, 0.14%

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 ...

, 1.03% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.57% from other races, and 0.95% 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 1.84% of the population. There were 1,151 households, out of which 46.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.5% 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, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.2% were non-families. 14.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.37. In the township the population was spread out, with 31.8% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 34.8% from 25 to 44, 17.2% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $48,203, and the median income for a family was $54,625. Males had a median income of $37,768 versus $26,164 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 $19,620. About 2.6% of families and 3.3% 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 4.9% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Francis Adam Goodman, veteran of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

; lived in Salem Township and represented the town in the State Legislature (1881-1883)

References

*Romig, Walter. ''Michigan Place Names''. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1986.

External links

* {{authority control Townships in Allegan County, Michigan Townships in Michigan