Garfield Township, Mackinac County, Michigan
Encyclopedia
Garfield Township is a civil township
Civil township
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...

 of Mackinac County
Mackinac County, Michigan
-Local Airports:*Mackinac County Airport *Mackinac Island Airport -Airline service:The nearest airports with scheduled passenger service are:*Chippewa County International Airport in Sault Ste...

 in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. The population was 1,251 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

.

Communities

  • Engadine is an unincorporated community at 46°07′00"N 85°34′15"W on M-117
    M-117 (Michigan highway)
    M-117 is a state trunkline highway in the eastern Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The highway connects US Highway 2 with M-28 west of Newberry. The designation has been used twice in the UP, once in 1941 for a former section of US 2 between Rexton and Epoufette, and the...

     at the junction with H-40, also known as the Hiawatha Trail, and approximately one mile north of the southern terminus of M-117 at US 2
    U.S. Route 2
    U.S. Route 2 is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada...

    . It is approximately three miles west of Millecoguins and four miles (6 km) east of Gould City. It began as a lumber settlement called "Kennedy Siding" and was given a post office in August 1889. In December 1893, a railroad agent named Sam Peterson, who was a native of Switzerland
    Switzerland
    Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

    , had the name changed to Engadin
    Engadin
    The Engadin or Engadine is a long valley in the Swiss Alps located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. It follows the route of the Inn River from its headwaters at Maloja Pass running northeast until the Inn flows into Austria one hundred kilometers downstream...

    e, after the scenic Swiss valley. The Engadine ZIP code
    ZIP Code
    ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

     49827 serves the western and central portions of Garfield Township as well portions of Portage Township
    Portage Township, Mackinac County, Michigan
    Portage Township is a civil township of Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 1,055....

     and Newton Township
    Newton Township, Mackinac County, Michigan
    Newton Township is a civil township of Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 356.- Communities :...

    .
  • Gilchrist is an unincorporated community at 46°08′34"N 85°23′05"W on H-40, also known as the Hiawatha Trail, approximately six miles east of Millecoguins and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Garnet. It was a lumber settlement with a station on the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway. A post office operated from September 1879 to June 1883 and again from June 1888 until November 1906. It was named for John Gilchrist, a local landowner.
  • Millecoquins is an unincorporated community at 46°08′07"N 85°30′27"W on H-40, also known as the Hiawatha Trail, approximately three miles east of Engadine and 9.5 miles (15.3 km) west of Garnet. It is on the southern end of Millecoquins Lake, which divides the upper and lower segments of the Millecoquins River
    Millecoquins River
    -References:*...

    . Then name Millecoquins is a French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

     word meaning "a thousand thieves", which was derived from the Indian terms Manana koking or Minakoking, meaning a place where the hardwood is plentiful.
  • Naubinway is an unincorporated community at 46°05′33"N 85°26′51"W on US 2
    U.S. Route 2
    U.S. Route 2 is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada...

     approximately six miles east of the junction with M-117
    M-117 (Michigan highway)
    M-117 is a state trunkline highway in the eastern Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The highway connects US Highway 2 with M-28 west of Newberry. The designation has been used twice in the UP, once in 1941 for a former section of US 2 between Rexton and Epoufette, and the...

     and 15 miles (24.1 km) west of Epoufette along the Lake Michigan
    Lake Michigan
    Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

     shore. Originally a lumbering town, the name derives from an Indian term meaning "place of echoes". A post office was established in November 1879. The Naubinway ZIP code
    ZIP Code
    ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

     49762 serves the southern and eastern portions of Garfield Township, as well as all of Hudson Township
    Hudson Township, Mackinac County, Michigan
    Hudson Township is a civil township of Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 214.- Communities :...

    , most of Hendricks Township
    Hendricks Township, Michigan
    Hendricks Township is a civil township of Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 183 at the 2000 census.- Communities :...

    , and a portion of Moran Township
    Moran Township, Michigan
    Moran Township is a civil township of Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,080 at the 2000 census.-Communities:...

    . Naubinway is known as the home of the Garlyn Zoo
    Garlyn Zoo
    The Garlyn Zoo is a zoo located in Mackinac County, Michigan. At , it is the largest zoo in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.-Location:The zoo is located between Naubinway, Michigan, and Epoufette, Michigan, on US 2...

    .

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the township has a total area of 137.4 square miles (355.9 km²), of which, 134.1 square miles (347.3 km²) of it is land and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²) of it (2.36%) is water.

At a roadside park, approximately three miles east of Naubinway at 46°05′50"N 85°23′51"W, a historical marker was erected in 1965 to commemorate the northernmost point of Lake Michigan, which is located approximately one mile west of the park. This point is significant because it marked the original western boundary of Michigan Territory
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...

 as established by the U.S. Congress in 1805. The boundary ran through the center of Lake Michigan to the northernmost extremity, and from thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States. In 1818, the boundary was extended west to the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 to encompass all the territory of the original Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...

 that had not yet been admitted as a state of the Union.

The early years

Although the first white man may have passed through the Naubinway and Engadine area, perhaps as early as 1640, the area's recorded history did not begin until some 200 years later. The first permanent settlers to the area, the William Boucher Family, came from Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island is an island and resort area covering in land area, part of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was home to a Native American settlement before European...

 to trade furs with the Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...

y Indians. They built their first house on the "Point" (near the location of the new Naubinway Marina) and remained until approximately 1857.

It was not until March 10, 1873, that William Boucher received a deed from the Federal Government to 27.3 acres (110,479.3 m²) of land in Naubinway. His deed was signed by President Ulysses S Grant, and under the provisions of the Public Land Act of 1820, he could have paid as little as $1.25 per acre. In the sale Boucher obtained the title to "The lot numbered Four of Section twenty-eight in Township forty-tree of Range Nine west...subject to sale at Marquette, MI."

Commercial fishing

There is a tendency to believe that commercial fishing arrived on the scene in the nick of time to save the people in Naubinway from an economic plight brought about when the lumber industry collapsed. In fact, both industries existed simultaneously, for as far back as the late 1880s 34 fishing tugs operated out of Naubinway.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 1,251 people, 550 households, and 382 families residing in the township. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 9.3 per square mile (3.6/km²). There were 1,029 housing units at an average density of 7.7 per square mile (3.0/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 82.09% White, 0.08% African American, 12.47% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.48% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 4.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population.

There were 550 households out of which 22.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.73.

In the township the population was spread out with 19.5% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $34,712, and the median income for a family was $37,917. Males had a median income of $29,821 versus $26,146 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the township was $17,315. About 7.1% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over.
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