Merrill Township, Michigan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Merrill Township, Michigan
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Township
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 Merrill Township, Michigan
Location in Michigan
Merrill Township, Michigan
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Newaygo |
| Area | |
| • Total | 35.8 sq mi (92.8 km2) |
| • Land | 34.9 sq mi (90.4 km2) |
| • Water | 0.9 sq mi (2.4 km2) |
| Elevation | 850 ft (259 m) |
| Population
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| • Total | 741 |
| • Density | 20.70/sq mi (7.985/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| FIPS code | 26-53160 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1626728 |
Merrill Township is a small local government area, called a civil township, located in Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. In 2020, about 741 people lived here.
Contents
Communities in Merrill Township
Merrill Township is home to a few smaller communities. These are places where people live, but they are not officially separate cities or towns.
Brohman
Brohman is a small community in the eastern part of the township. It is located on M-37. Brohman is about eight miles north of White Cloud. It is also about 15 miles west of Big Rapids.
This community started in 1882. It was first called Otia, named after Otia Dingman. She ran a hotel there. For a while, it was also known as Dingman. The ZIP code for Brohman and the nearby area is 49312.
Woodland Park
Woodland Park is another community in the northern part of Merrill Township. It is sometimes called "Woodland Park Resort." Most of it is on the north side of Woodland Lake. This lake is also known as Brookings or Crooked Lake. The community is about two miles south of Bitely. It is also about two and a half miles northwest of Brohman. The Bitely ZIP code 49309 covers the Woodland Park area.
The community covers about four square miles. It has many small land plots, but many of them are not yet built on.
History of Woodland Park
Woodland Park was created in 1923. It was planned as a resort town especially for African-American visitors. Two real estate agents, Marion E. Arthur from Cleveland, Ohio, and Alvin E. Wright from Chicago, Illinois, helped set it up.
The area became Woodland Park after the Brookings Lumber Company sold its old logging village. This land was first offered for sale in 1920. Marion and his wife, Ella Auther, used money they earned from selling land in another resort, Idlewild. They used this money to make a first payment on the village's 200-acre lake.
By 1921, the Authers bought most of the land from the Brookings Lumber Company. However, they still needed more money to finish the deal. Wilbur Lemon, a white businessman from Chicago, helped them. He was one of the people who started the Idlewild Resort Company. He bought the last piece of land from Brookings. This help allowed the Authers to open their new resort and name it Woodland Park.
After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, more places became open to everyone. This meant that African-Americans could visit resorts that were once only for white people. Because of this, Woodland Park became less popular. Passenger train service to Grand Rapids and other cities also stopped in 1966. This made it harder for people to travel to Woodland Park.
Geography of Merrill Township
Merrill Township covers a total area of about 35.8 square miles (92.8 square kilometers). Most of this area, about 34.9 square miles (90.4 square kilometers), is land. The remaining 0.9 square miles (2.4 square kilometers) is water, like lakes and rivers. This means about 2.59% of the township is water.
Population Information
As of the census in 2000, there were 590 people living in Merrill Township. These people lived in 262 households. About 162 of these households were families.
The population density was about 16.9 people per square mile. There were 782 housing units in the township.
Most of the people living in the township were White (72.71%). About 20.00% were African American. A smaller number were Native American (1.86%) or from other backgrounds. About 3.22% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino.
About 22.5% of households had children under 18 living with them. Many households (46.9%) were married couples. About 15.3% of households had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The average household had 2.25 people.
The age of the population was spread out. About 25.6% were under 18 years old. About 20.5% were 65 years or older. The average age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were about 96.7 males.
See also
In Spanish: Municipio de Merrill (Míchigan) para niños
