According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 517.42 square miles (1,340.11 km2), of which 120.72 square miles (312.66 km2) is land and 396.70 square miles (1,027.45 km2) (76.67%) is water.[5]
Due to its surrounding water boundaries, it ranks as the third-largest municipality by total area after McMillan Township and Eagle Harbor Township, although Houghton Township has the largest water boundaries of any municipalities in the state.
Major highways
US 41 runs west–east through the central portion of the township.
M-26 enters the township concurrently with US 41 until it branches off to the north in Phoenix.
Communities
Central is an unincorporated community located within the township at 47°24′26″N88°12′02″W / 47.40722°N 88.20056°W / 47.40722; -88.20056.[6] This settlement developed around the successful Central Mine, which began operating in 1854. A post office named Central Mine opened on December 8, 1871, in what was then part of Sherman Township, as seen in an 1873 map of Keweenaw County.[7] The name changed to Centralmine on June 30, 1894, and was disestablished on September 15, 1904. The mine itself closed in 1894.[8]
Vaughsville is an unincorporated community located in the western portion of the township along US 41 / M-27 at 47°22′53″N88°17′45″W / 47.38139°N 88.29583°W / 47.38139; -88.29583.[13] The area was first settled by Joel Vaugh, who bought land here in 1849. He platted the village, but the settlement dwindled following his death in 1862.[14]
Demographics
At the 2000 United States census,[2] there were 204 people, 45 households, and 26 families in the township. The population density was 1.7 per square mile (0.6/km2). There were 273 housing units at an average density of 2.2 per square mile (0.9/km2). By the 2020 census, its population declined to 72.[4]
At the 2000 census, there were 45 households, out of which 13.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 42.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.89 and the average family size was 2.54. The median income for a household in the township was $28,750, and the median income for a family was $41,250. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income for the township was $8,505. None of the families and 7.0% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 9.1% of those over 64. At the 2021 American Community Survey, its median household income increased to $51,250.[4]
^Walling, H. F. (1873). "Upper Peninsula, Scale six Miles to an Inch, Isle Royale (and Keweenaw Co.)" (Map). Atlas of the State of Michigan, Including Statistics and Descriptions of Its Topography, Hydrology, Climate, Natural and Civil History, Railways, Educational Institutions, Material Resources, etc. 1:380,160. Detroit: R.M. & S.T. Tackabury. p. 118. Retrieved August 2, 2023 – via David Rumsey Map Collection.
^Romig, Walter (1986). Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Great Lakes Books Series. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 107. ISBN978-0-8143-1838-6.
