Swartz Creek, Michigan

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This article is about the city. For other uses, including the waterway, see Swartz Creek (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 42°57′43″N 83°49′35″W / 42.96194, -83.82639
City of Swartz Creek
Motto: Where Town and Country Shake Hands
Location of Swartz Creek within Genesee County, Michigan.
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Genesee
Settled	1836
Platted	1877
Incorporated	1959
Government
- Type	Council-Manager
- Mayor	Richard Abrams
- Mayor Pro-tem	Jason Christie
- City Manager	Paul D. Bueche
Area
- Total	4.0 sq mi (10.4 km²)
- Land	4.0 sq mi (10.4 km²)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation	791 ft (235 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	5,102
- Density	1,269.6/sq mi (490.0/km²)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	48473, 48554
Area code(s)	810
FIPS code	26-77700^[1]
GNIS feature ID	1614476^[2]
Website: http://www.cityofswartzcreek.org/

Swartz Creek is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,102 at the 2000 census. The city is a suburb of Flint and has incorporated land formerly within Flint Charter Township, Gaines Township, and Clayton Township, but is administratively autonomous from all three.

1 Government
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 History
5 Notables
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Government

Swartz Creek uses a council-manager form of city government. Formed of seven council members, three are elected at-large and four are elected from the city's 4 precincts. There is only one ward. Council members serve four year terms with the precinct class and the at-large class staggered two years apart in even years. The City's mayor and mayor pro-tem are selected from amongst the Council's members. The council hires a chief administrative officer with the title of city manager to handle day-to-day administration.^[3]

Precinct/At-Large	Councilor
At-Large, Mayor	Richard Abrams
At-Large, Mayor Pro-tem	Jason Christie
At-Large, 2nd Acting Mayor Pro-tem	Don Adams
1, Acting Mayor Pro-tem	David Hurt
2	Rae Lynn Hicks ^[4]
3	Curtis Porath
4	Michael R. Shumaker

Together with Clayton Township the city runs a joint volunteer fire department, Swartz Creek Area Fire Department with two fire stations, one per municipality. The Swartz Creek Community School District provides the city and the surrounding townships with the high school, middle school, alternative high school and within the city 2 elementary schools.

Years	Justice of the Peace
1959-1964	Adolph Wascha
1964-1968	Jerry Dellenback

^[5] Justice of the Peace was discontinued by the Judicial reorganization mandated by the last adopted Michigan State Constitution.

Years	At Large	At Large	At Large	Precinct 1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1959-1960	William Miller	Bruce Williams	William Young (Mayor)	Donald E. Brasfield	Lewis Wilcox	Willard Brimley	Paul Trecha ^[6]
1960-1974	gap	William J. Florida At-Large 1972-1974
1974-1976 (precinct/AL unknown)	Ken Perry	K. Burleson	W. Golden	Fred Pajtas (M)	Andy Maybik	J. Adams	David Ford ^[7]
1976-1978
1978-1980	Thomas Lougheed						Phyllis L. Shumaker
1980-1982
1982-1984
1984-1986	Richard Abrams	Robert J. Sanborn	Patrica K. Ryan (M)	Patricia A. Collins	Dolores A. Pobocik	Donna L. McCoy	Dennis D. Allen (PT)
1986-1988	Richard Abrams	Robert J. Sanborn	Curtis Porath	Patricia A. Collins	Dolores A. Pobocik	Donna L. McCoy (M)	Dennis D. Allen (PT)
1986-1988	Richard Abrams	Mary Niles	Curtis Porath	Patricia A. Collins	Dolores A. Pobocik	Donna L. McCoy (M)	Dennis D. Allen (PT)
1988-1990	Richard Abrams	Mary Niles	Curtis Porath	Patricia A. Collins	Dolores A. Pobocik	Donna L. McCoy (M)	Dennis D. Allen (PT)
1990-1992	Richard Abrams	Mary Niles	Curtis Porath	Patricia A. Collins	Dolores A. Pobocik (PT)	Donna L. McCoy (M)	Dennis D. Allen
1992-1994	Richard Abrams	Mary Niles (PT)	Curtis Porath	Patricia A. Collins	Dolores A. Pobocik	Donna L. McCoy (M)	Dennis D. Allen
1994-1996	Richard Abrams	Mary Niles (PT)	Curtis Porath	Patricia A. Collins	Joyce Thompson	Donna L. McCoy (M)	Dennis D. Allen
1996-1998	Richard Abrams	Mary Niles	Curtis Porath	Tracy Smith	Joyce Thompson	Donna L. McCoy (M)	Dennis D. Allen (PT)
1998-2000	Richard Abrams	Mary Niles	Curtis Porath	Tracy Smith, C. David Hurt (3/8/1999)	Joyce Thompson	Donna L. McCoy (PT)	Dennis D. Allen (M)
2000-2002	Richard Abrams (PT)	Jason Christie	Don Adams	C. David Hurt	Joyce Thompson	Donna L. McCoy / Lindstrom	Dennis D. Allen (M)
2002-2006	Richard Abrams (M)	Jason Christie (PT)	Don Adams	C. David Hurt	Dave Plumb	Curtis Porath	Michael R. Shumaker ^[8]

M - Mayor, PT - Mayor Pro-Tem

Years	City Manager	City Clerk/ Financial Officer	City Treasurer	Police Chief
1960-1964	Harry Houck	Helen Tagge	Helen Tagge	Claude Dooley (12/1959-)
1964-1968	Walt Looney	Helen Tagge	Helen Tagge	Claude Dooley (-4/1966) Harold Frye (-5/1968)
1968-1973	Donald Clark	Helen Tagge (-1971)	Helen Tagge (-1969)	Gerald Lyons (4/1968-4/1969) Bob Ayres (5/1969-)
1973-1997	Thomas L. Hundley	Richard Runnels Carol Arvoy (19xx) Terri Coons Nurkula (199x) Korene Kelly (19xx)	Viola E. Webb (-19xx) Sue Taylor (19xx) xxxxxxxx (199x) Betty Shannon (19xx)	Bob Ayres Raymond Adams ^[9] Paul Bueche
1997-2000	Tod Mowery	Korene Kelly	Betty Shannon	Paul Bueche*
2000-2002	Robert A. Museus	Korene Kelly	Betty Shannon	Paul Bueche*
2002 -	Paul Bueche	Korene Kelly Mary Jo Clark( -6/25/2007) Juanita Aguilar (6/25/2007-)	Betty Shannon Deanna Korth (4/22/2002-) Juanita Aguilar (5/3/2005-) Deanna Korth (6/25/2007-)	Rick Clolinger (6/24/2002) ^[10]

Bueche was interim City Manager between Hundley and Mowery and again after Robert A. Museus until taking the job permanently.

District	Number	Officeholder
U.S. Representative	5	Dale E. Kildee
State Senate	27	John J. Gleason
State Representative	49	Lee Gonzales
County Commissioner	6	Patricia A. Lockwood
District Court	4th Division - Fenton	Mark McCabe, Chief Judge
School District	Swartz Creek Community	Multiple; see article
Community College	C.S. Mott	Multiple; see article
Polling Location	SC United Methodist Church	all precincts

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.0 square miles (10.4 km²), all land.

The West branch of the Swartz Creek flows from west to east through the city, generally along the southern border, toward the Flint River leave the Southeast corner of Clayton Township separated from the rest of the Township. Just south and parallel to the Creek is the Canadian National Railway line, formerly the Grand Trunk line, which runs between Flint and Durand.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 5,102 people, 2,233 households, and 1,460 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,269.6 per square mile (490.0/km²). There were 2,355 housing units at an average density of 586.0/sq mi (226.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.83% White, 1.22% African American, 0.35% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.10% of the population.

There were 2,233 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,112, and the median income for a family was $52,147. Males had a median income of $46,442 versus $29,010 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,046. About 4.4% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

[edit] Indian & Territorial

Wayne County was formed with in the Northwest Territory covering the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The Saginaw Valley Treaty was signed with the Chippewa Indians in 1819. In 1836, the Pewanigo tribe of the Saginaw Indians sign a treaty with the US government that gave all remaining land in Genesee County for 13 sections of land west of the Mississippi River with the land to be sold for the Indians' benefits. ^[11]

For additional information, see Genesee County, Michigan and Michigan.

[edit] Miller's Settlement

Miller's Settlement refers to an area that straddled Clayton and Gaines geographical township area along what is now Morrish Road. In 1836 with Adam Miller leading the way, the first settlers arrived in the Miller Settlement. Adam Miller claimed 160 in section 35 of the future Clayton Township and returned 2 months later with family from New York. The Indian trail along the Swartz Creek West branch was always referred to as "Going up the Swartz". The Miller cut a road to Flint to Millers Settlement along that route. Flint Township was organized in 1836 and included the township areas of Burton, Clayton, Flushing, Mt. Morris, Genesee, Thetford, Vienna and Montrose. Mundy Township was organized in 1937 included Gaines Township. Philander McLain build on previous claimed land as the first settler in the geographically Gaines Township in 1838. Gaines Township was organized in 1842. The post office and route for Miller Settlement was founded in 1842 as the Swartz Creek Post Office, which was the first reference to the area as Swartz Creek. Clayton Township government was started in 1846.^[12]

Grand Trunk Railroad completed its rail line south of Miller Settlement in 1876 with a station identified as Hamilton. With another Hamilton depot in Michigan and confusion with the location being alternatively called Miller Settlement or Swartz Creek (via the post office), it was renamed after a year to Swartz Creek depot. The following year (1877) the Swartz Creek Elevator was built. The Village of Swartz Creek subdivision was platted in 1877 with Main Street (later Morrish Road and currently Holland Drive) and a few parallel roads West of Main Street.

In 1925, the Swartz Creek Community Fire Association was formed but by 1952 was forced to dissolve and handed over to the two townships, Clayton and Gaines. Clayton and Gaines then reformed it as a shared department of both townships. The Swartz Creek community in 1944 forms a Community Council to deal with area issues as they span the two townships.

[edit] Crapo Farm

Swamp land lying in Gaines Township -- about 1000 acres -- was purchased by Henry Howland Crapo in 1860. The swamp, the source of the west branch of the Swartz Creek and its name, was drained. An effective settlement was established there with the "Crapo Farm" with most structures outside of the current boundaries of the City. Crapo was elected Governor of Michigan in 1865 and held office at the Farm's Mansion, "Grassmoor". Crapo Farm even had its own rail depot. After a couple of Crapos held ownership of the Crapo Farm, it was sold to developers, various Corporations with Winshall as president. The west side was designated and build into a subdivision of about 300 homes called Winchester Village. Other plans for Crapo Farms were a golf course around the Mansion as the clubhouse and a mall at Seymour and Miller Roads; neither of which were build.

[edit] Otterburn

Otterburn was in Flint Township, had about 150 residents and had its own train depot. In 1957, Chevrolet builds a parts plant on the Eastern side. ^[13]

[edit] City of Swartz Creek

With the building of the Winchester Village subdivision and the Chevrolet plant in Otterburn, area residents thoughts turned to incorporation as the community straddled two townships. The residents of Winchester Village opposed incorporation as proposed and want to incorporate as Winchester Village. Additional resistance against incorporation came from Flint Township as the Township did not want to lose the taxes from the Chevrolet Parts Plant. The first charter vote on 12/16/1958, the charter fell by a vote of 486 to 522. A second proposed charter draft was approved on September 22, 1959, 548 to 495. ^[14]

Swartz Creek amended its charter to allow Councilors to serve 4 year terms with at-large and precinct class elected at staggered 2 years apart beginning in 1980.^[15]

In the mid-1980s, Swartz Creek was the "report from" for articles in regards to the Super Fund clean up Berlin and Fero toxic wasted dump as covered national including National Geographics despite Berlin and Fero being about 4 mile out of town in Gaines Township. Clean up was in two phases with the second ending late 1990s.

[edit] Notables

MaliVai Washington, tennis star and 1996 Wimbledon Singles Finalist, grew up in Swartz Creek.

Don Brewer was a member of the band, Grand Funk Railroad.

Sandra Brewer Brenette is the sister of Don Brewer and a Broadway dancer. ^[16]

Paul T. Spaniola has won 6 World Pipe Smoking Championships and owns Paul's Pipe Shop in downtown Flint, the oldest small business located there. He served as the City's Charter Commission chair and a past Fire Chief of Swartz Creek Area Fire Department. In addition, he was a consultant for a movie. His daughter Patricia Schoenfield served on the Swartz Creek Community School Board while another daughter and son-in-law, Phyllis and Michael Shumaker served on the City Council for Precinct 4 for 1 term (1978-1980) and 2 terms (2002-present) respectively and Michael was the City's Director of Public Services from 1971-1998. ^[17] A grandnephew, Paul Fortino, serves as supervisor of Gaines Township.^[18] While another nephew, Francis Spaniola, served as a State Representative from the Corunna, Michigan area and as president of the Michigan State Historical Society.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ Spaniola, Paul; City Charter Commission (1959). Swartz Creek City Charter. City of Swartz Creek.
^ "Dad's write-in election bid apparently falling short", Flint Journal, 2006.
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 176.
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 180,181.
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 182.
^ Various (1986-2004). "Swartz Creek City Council Meeting Minutes". . City of Swartz Creek
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 176.
^ Various (1986-2007). "Swartz Creek City Council Meeting Minutes". . City of Swartz Creek
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek.
^ Wood, Edwin O. (1916). History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions. Michigan Historical Commission.
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 225.
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 180.
^ City Charter Amendment Committee (1959). Swartz Creek City Charter. City of Swartz Creek.
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 221.
^ Hayes, Yutha (1976). Going up the Swartz. Swartz Creek: Bicentennial Commission of Swartz Creek, 123, 152, 172.
^ Election Results 2004. County of Genesee, Michigan (2004).

[edit] External links

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Genesee County, Michigan

County seat: Flint

Cities	Burton \| Clio \| Davison \| Fenton \| Flint \| Flushing \| Grand Blanc \| Linden \| Montrose \| Mount Morris \| Swartz Creek

Villages	Gaines \| Goodrich \| Lennon (part) \| Otisville \| Otter Lake (part)

Charter townships	Clayton \| Fenton \| Flint \| Flushing \| Genesee \| Grand Blanc \| Montrose \| Mount Morris \| Mundy \| Vienna

General law townships	Argentine \| Atlas \| Davison \| Gaines \| Richfield \| Thetford \| Forest

Communities	Argentine \| Beecher \| Lake Fenton \| Rankin \| Whigville

Categories: Genesee County, Michigan | Cities in Michigan

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