West Branch 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 Dickinson 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 51 at the 2020 census. With a population density of only , the township ranks as the least-densely populated municipality in the state of Michigan. It is also the third least-populated after Pointe Aux Barques Township (15) and Grand Island Township (35).

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 township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.35%) is water. The north and main branches of the Ford River flow through the township, as does the west branch of the

Escanaba River The Escanaba River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed December 19, 2011 river on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

. The township is served by North Dickinson County Schools to the southwest in the community of Felch.

Communities

*Alfred is an unincorporated community within the township at . It lis located near where the north branch of the Ford River joins the main branch. Alfred was settled around 1903 as a station along the Chicago, Minneapolis, and St. Paul Railroad. A post office operated here from December 8, 1903 until November 15, 1910. *Ralph is an unincorporated community within the township at . The community as settled in 1901 as a station along the

Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates of track in Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its main line runs from Rockland, Michigan, to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and it also own ...

. It was named for Ralph Wells, who was the son of lumberman J. W. Wells from

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

. A post office opened on January 17, 1901 with the name Bryden, and it was renamed Ralph on June 6, 1904. The Ralph post office closed in 2012.

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 67 people, 29 households, and 18 families residing in the township. By 2020, its population was 51.

References

Sources

* {{authority control Townships in Dickinson County, Michigan Iron Mountain micropolitan area Townships in Michigan