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 ...
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 community is located within Huron Charter Township. As an unincorporated community, Willow has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own.
Geography
The community sits at an elevation of above sea level.
According to road signage, the community is centered along Willow Road between Waltz Road on the west and a double set of railroad tracks to the east. Willow is located close to three divisions of the Huron–Clinton Metroparks system: Lower Huron, Oakwoods, and
Willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
. The
Huron River
The Huron River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed November 7, 2011 river in southeast Michigan, southeastern Michigan, rising out of the Huron Swamp in Springfie ...
flows near the community, and Interstate 275 is slightly east but has no access from Willow Road. The community of
Waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...
Huron Charter Township, where the community of Willow is located, was established in 1827.
The area presently known as Willow received its first post office named Woodville in 1852. The name of the post office was changed to Smithville from 1858 to 1872, when it was changed to
Waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...
briefly from 1872 to 1873. The Waltz post office was moved to another location from 1874 to 1954, and the former post office served under the name Belden from 1873 to 1892. The post office was finally renamed as Willow in 1892 until it was discontinued in 1915. The
Pere Marquette Railway
The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes (North America), Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and the Canadi ...
built a line through the area around 1872. Willow once contained a railroad station. The railway line is currently used by
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...
but contains no stations within the area.
The community of Willow currently uses the New Boston post office with the 48164 ZIP Code. The name Willow is no longer accepted or used for mailing purposes. Willow is informally defined as a
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
within the township, although it has no legal recognition as an
incorporated municipality
Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owned c ...