Meridian Charter Township is a
charter townshipA charter township is a form of local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. In Michigan, as in other states with like systems , a township is an administrative division of a county, which is an administrative division of the state...
of
Ingham CountyIngham County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2000 census recorded its population at 279,320. The county seat is Mason. Lansing, the state capital of Michigan, is also within the county...
in the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 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...
of
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. As of the
2000 censusThe 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...
the township had a population of 39,116. Meridian Township is the
local governmentLocal governments are administrative office that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government....
unit that includes the unincorporated communities and census-designated places of
OkemosOkemos is an unincorporated community in Meridian Charter Township, Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place for statistical purposes and does not have any separate legal existence as a municipality. Local government is provided by the township...
and
HaslettHaslett is an unincorporated community in Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place used for statistical purposes. The population was 11,283 at the 2000 census. Though it has its own school district and post office , Haslett is administered by Meridian Charter...
. Meridian Township is the third largest
municipalityA municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.The notion of municipality...
in the Lansing-East Lansing Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Meridian Township takes its name from the fact that the
Michigan MeridianThe Michigan Meridian is the meridian, or the north-south line used as a reference in the Michigan Survey, the survey of the U.S. state of Michigan in the early 19th century. It is located at 84 degrees, 22 minutes and 24 seconds west longitude at its northern terminus at Sault Ste...
, the prime north-south survey line runs through the township.
Meridian Charter Township is a
charter townshipA charter township is a form of local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. In Michigan, as in other states with like systems , a township is an administrative division of a county, which is an administrative division of the state...
of
Ingham CountyIngham County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2000 census recorded its population at 279,320. The county seat is Mason. Lansing, the state capital of Michigan, is also within the county...
in the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 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...
of
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. As of the
2000 censusThe 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...
the township had a population of 39,116. Meridian Township is the
local governmentLocal governments are administrative office that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government....
unit that includes the unincorporated communities and census-designated places of
OkemosOkemos is an unincorporated community in Meridian Charter Township, Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place for statistical purposes and does not have any separate legal existence as a municipality. Local government is provided by the township...
and
HaslettHaslett is an unincorporated community in Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place used for statistical purposes. The population was 11,283 at the 2000 census. Though it has its own school district and post office , Haslett is administered by Meridian Charter...
. Meridian Township is the third largest
municipalityA municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.The notion of municipality...
in the Lansing-East Lansing Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Meridian Township takes its name from the fact that the
Michigan MeridianThe Michigan Meridian is the meridian, or the north-south line used as a reference in the Michigan Survey, the survey of the U.S. state of Michigan in the early 19th century. It is located at 84 degrees, 22 minutes and 24 seconds west longitude at its northern terminus at Sault Ste...
, the prime north-south survey line runs through the township. It is from this line that all townships were surveyed and measured.
History
Meridian Township was first settled by white pioneers in 1837. The earliest settlers located at Pine Lake (now Lake Lansing) and made use of the numerous stands of pines to build their cabin. The lake was later the site of a Spiritualist Meeting Camp led by John Haslett. During the late 19th century, the lake became known as a local vacation area served by an "interurban trolley" which ran from the City of Lansing to the resort on the south side of the lake. An amusement park was introduced and enjoyed immense popularity into the mid-20th century. Currently, the Village of Haslett is located at the south side of Lake Lansing.
The first white settlers near the current Village of Okemos (to the south of the former Pine Lake) were Sanford Marsh and his wife who built their cabin in 1839. They were soon followed by Joseph Kilbourne, who took out land for his brother-in-law, Freeman Bray.
It was Bray who platted out the southeast corner of his land and sold the lots to newcomers traveling into the mid-state wilderness. The village was first known as Hamilton.
A post-office called Sanford was established in the spring of 1840. Joseph H. Kilbourne was the first postmaster.
A local Native American, Chief John Okemos, was well-known throughout the area. The village area was one of his primary camping areas and he traveled frequently between the village and another campsite near present-day Portland, Michigan. In 1857, the Michigan Legislature changed the name of the village officially to Okemos to honor the old chief.
The Township is rich with history and one resident, Joseph Kilbourne, had a major role in the decision in 1847 to relocate the state capitol from Detroit to Lansing (then Lansing Township). A local organization, the Friends of Historic Meridian, has an archive of local historic information and also maintains the historic buildings in the Meridian Historical Village.
Geography
According to the
United States Census BureauThe 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. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the township has a total area of 31.8 square miles (82.3 km²), of which, 31.0 square miles (80.3 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.0 km²) of it (2.42%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "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.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 39,116 people, 16,414 households, and 9,782 families residing in the township. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 1,261.2 per square mile (487.0/km²). There were 17,120 housing units at an average density of 552.0/sq mi (213.2/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 86.36% White, 4.05% African American, 0.32% Native American, 6.51% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.69% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , 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 2.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.53% of the population.
There were 16,414 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the township the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $55,203, and the median income for a family was $80,114. Males had a median income of $55,705 versus $39,306 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the township was $32,190. About 4.3% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.9% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.
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