Communities
There are no incorporated municipalities in the township. There are a few small unincorporated communities, all located along Michigan highway M-95. These communities, located directly along the Milwaukee and Northern Railway were developed by the Milwaukee Land Company [4] as a result of land grants in the late Nineteenth Century. The first transaction on every deed for lots names the Milwaukee Land Company [5] as grantor. [6]
Channing
Channing began as a railroad junction called "Ford Siding". The community's name was changed to Channing, in honor of surveyor John Parke Channing, in November 1892. [7] In 1892 a post office was established. This post office continues to serve ZIP code 49815. [8] [9] [10] By the late 1960s, with few riders remaining and the US Postal rail contracts ended, [11] the Milwaukee Road (and most other big RRs) discontinued many of their long-distance trains. After these passenger services ended, the Channing station continued to be used as a train order office for both the Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad and the Milwaukee Road.
The Chippewa was discontinued on February 2, 1960. [12] [13] [14] The Copper Country Limited made its last runs on March 7, 1968. [15] There also were morning and evening trains to Crystal Falls and Iron River. [16] All services to Crystal Falls and Iron River ended in 1969 when that branch from Kelso Junction (7.7 miles west of Channing) was abandoned. [17]
Floodwood
Floodwood is on M-95 about five miles (8 km) north of Channing and two miles (3 km) south of the Marquette County boundary. It began as a lumber settlement on the Milwaukee and Northern Railroad. A post office was in operation there from 1887 until 1905. [8] [18]
Randville
Randville was originally a mining settlement, that was formed because of the nearby Groveland Mine. Randville was the location of a 4.5 mile spur to the Randville Mine between 1891 and 1913. [19] It was a station on the Milwaukee and Northern Railroad (10 miles south of Channing) in 1880 and a post office was in operation there from 1891 until 1932. [8] [20]
Sagola
Sagola was formed, when in about 1885, five Chicago men formed the Sagola Lumber Company to harvest pine timber in the area. The mill, which is now owned by Louisiana-Pacific had made oriented strand board (OSB) since 1988 has since switched to LP® SmartSide® in 2023. [21] The name Sagola was derived from the local Indian word for "welcome". A post office was first established there in 1889, and continues today to serve ZIP code 49881. [8] [22] Sagola is about five miles south of Channing. [23]
Demographics
As of the census [2] of 2000, there were 1,169 people, 475 households, and 323 families residing in the township. In 2020, its population was 1,066. As of the 2010 Census the total population: 1,169, median age: 40 years old, total households: 475 and median household income: $33,333. [24]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
