Comstock Township, Michigan

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Coordinates: 42°17′49″N 85°29′56″W / 42.29694, -85.49889
Comstock Township, Michigan
Comstock Township, Michigan Location within the state of Michigan
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Kalamazoo
Organized	1834
Area
- Total	34.9 sq mi (90.5 km²)
- Land	33.0 sq mi (85.4 km²)
- Water	2.0 sq mi (5.1 km²)
Elevation	810 ft (247 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	13,851
- Density	420.2/sq mi (162.2/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	49041 (Comstock, P.O. Box), 49053 (Galesburg), 49001 (Kalamazoo), 49004 (Kalamazoo)
Area code(s)	269
FIPS code	26-17680^[1]
GNIS feature ID	1626126^[2]

Comstock Township is a charter township of Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 13,851 at the 2000 census.

1 Communities
2 History
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Communities

Comstock is an unincorporated community in the western part of the township on the Kalamazoo River and M-96 at 42°17′12″N 85°30′48″W / 42.28667, -85.51333.^[3] The first gristmill opened in 1832 and a post office was established in February 1832.^[4] The Comstock ZIP code, 49048, offers only P.O. box service.
East Comstock is a named place located just a bit east of Comstock, near the dam forming Morrow Lake on the Kalamazoo River at 42°17′10″N 85°29′23″W / 42.28611, -85.48972.^[5]
Lawndale is a named place just a bit east of East Comstock along M-96 at 42°17′11″N 85°27′44″W / 42.28639, -85.46222.^[6]
Galesburg is a city along the eastern boundary of the township and incorporates some land that is within the survey township from which Comstock Township was formed. The Galesburg ZIP code, 49053, serves much of the eastern portion of the township.^[7]
Kalamazoo is adjacent to the southwest and the Kalamazoo ZIP codes of 49001 and 49004 serve portions in the western part of the township.^[8]^[9]

[edit] History

Township 2 South Range 10 West was first surveyed in January 1827 by Robert M. Clark. The first settler, William Tolland, came there in 1829 but apparently never purchased any land, despite living there for several years. In 1830, land entries were recorded for William Harris for the southwest quarter of section 17 and Major G. Van Dwyer for the southwest quarter of section 13 (the eastern portion of the section is now part of Galesburg). In 1831 land entries were recorded for Horace H. Comstock, Caleb Eldred, Thomas W. Merrill, Mumford Eldred, Stephen Eldred, Leland Lane, and others. Settling in the eastern part of the township in or near what is now Galesburg were Nathaniel Matthews, Ralph Tuttle, Sherman Cummings, George Townsend, and Nathan Cothren. H. H. Comstock, Caleb Eldred, and Cryus Lovell settled in the western part of the township near what became Comstock.

Comstock Township was organized by an act of the Territorial Legislature in 1834. Previously, it was a part of Arcadia Township (later renamed Kalamazoo Township, which initially comprised all eight of the northern tier of townships in Kalamazoo County. In June 1832, Richland Township was set off, consisting of Richland, Ross, Charleston, and Comstock townships. On March 7, 1834, Comstock township was set off, comprising Comstock and Charleston townships and also Climax Township, which had been set off from Brady Township. Climax was set off from Comstock on December 30, 1837, and Charleston in 1838.^[10]^[11]

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 34.9 square miles (90.5 km²), of which, 33.0 square miles (85.4 km²) of it is land and 2.0 square miles (5.1 km²) of it (5.67%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

A densely populated portion of the township adjacent to the city of Kalamazoo is part of the census-designated place (CDP), Comstock Northwest.

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 13,851 people, 5,366 households, and 3,809 families residing in the township. The population density was 420.2 per square mile (162.3/km²). There were 5,601 housing units at an average density of 169.9/sq mi (65.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 91.98% White, 4.01% African American, 0.43% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.67% of the population.

There were 5,366 households out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the township the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $46,140, and the median income for a family was $54,866. Males had a median income of $40,845 versus $29,195 for females. The per capita income for the township was $22,857. About 6.0% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.