The area was settled as early as 1765 by the St. Helena Island fisheries, which was operated by the Newton Brothers firm. The township itself was formally organized much later in 1878 and named after Nelson Newton.[5]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Newton Township has a total area of 154.91 square miles (401.22 km2), of which 148.60 square miles (384.87 km2) are land and 6.31 square miles (16.34 km2) (4.07%) are water.[1]
Milakokia Lake is a 1,956-acre (792 ha) lake found on the western side of the township.[6]
Communities
Bryan was founded in 1905 as the railroad stop for the Escanaba Lumber Company. A village was laid out next to the railroad stop by William P. Bryan. It had a post office from 1906 until 1920. By that year lumbering operations in the area had ended, and within a decade the place was entirely abandoned.[7]
Corinne was a lumbering settlement and station on the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad. It had a post office from 1889 until 1942 named "Viola".[8]
Simmons is a former settlement that centered around a mill operated by the Simmons Lumber Company. A post office operated in Simmons from May 20, 1903, until February 15, 1911.[13] It should not be confused with a different unincorporated community of the same name located in Marquette Township to the east.[14]
Demographics
As of 2020, the population of the township was 430, and the median household income was $30,313.[15]
^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. 397. ISBN978-0-8143-1838-6.
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