Shamrock Township is a township in Aitkin County,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States. The population was 1,272 as of the 2010 census.

History

Settled by Irish immigrants, Shamrock Township was named for the

Shamrock A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of the Irish word and simply means "young clover". At most times'', Shamrock'' refers to either the species ...

, a national symbol of Ireland.

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 31.00%, is water. Several lakes are responsible for the high percentage of water area in the township; the largest are

Big Sandy Lake Big Sandy Lake is a lake in Aitkin County, Minnesota, approximately nine miles north of McGregor. The lake is considered fertile walleye ground with several habitat types, including the open main basin, the deep, cold eastern basin, and a sha ...

and Lake Minnewawa.

Major highway

Minnesota State Highway 65 Minnesota State Highway 65 (MN 65) is a highway in the east–central and northeast parts of the U.S. state of Minnesota, which starts at its split from Interstate 35W (Minnesota), I-35W, skipping past the downtown Minneapolis core, only to resu ...

Lakes

* Anderson Lake * Big Sandy Lake (southeast half) * Camp Lake * Dollar Lake * Flowage Lake (east quarter) * Horseshoe Lake * Island Lake (west quarter) * Lake Minnewawa * Mud Lake * Round Lake (west half) * Sandy River Lake (east half)

Adjacent townships

* Turner Township (north) * Balsam Township (northeast) * Haugen Township (east) * Clark Township (southeast) * McGregor Township (south) * Jevne Township (southwest) * Workman Township (west) * Libby Township (northwest)

Cemeteries

The township contains these two cemeteries: Round Lake and Shamrock.

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 1,172 people, 557 households, and 365 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,061 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 93.52%

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 ...

, 0.17%

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 ...

, 5.63% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 0.51% 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 0.43% of the population. There were 557 households, out of which 16.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% 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, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.54. In the township the population was spread out, with 16.4% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 17.4% from 25 to 44, 31.3% from 45 to 64, and 30.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $29,688, and the median income for a family was $34,135. Males had a median income of $40,893 versus $22,614 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 $18,485. About 6.5% 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 19.3% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

References

United States National Atlas

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

External links

Shamrock Township official website
{{authority control Townships in Aitkin County, Minnesota Townships in Minnesota