Editing Long Lake Township, Michigan (section)

==History==
The Long Lake township area was initially settled in 1862 when Ira Chase and his brother-in-law Eliphalet Fillmore traveled from Whitewater township to Grand Traverse County to select land. The next few years saw the gradual influx of families who cleared forested areas to establish farms. An annual cycle of farming in the summer, logging in the winter, and maple sugaring in the spring began. The end of the Civil War brought additional settlers and in November 1866 a group of men petitioned the Board of Supervisors of Grand Traverse County to form "'''Viola Township'''" from Township 27 north, Range 12 west, of old [[Traverse Township, Michigan|Traverse Township]]. In January 1867, Long Lake Township was formally organized.

The population of the township was 333 in 1870, rising to 434 in 1880. The most notable historical incident in the early 1870s was the probable murder of John Eley, his wife Philopena, and their two daughters in July 1871. The family disappeared and neighbors later discovered blood on the walls of the family's house. A hired hand, William Benton, was the prime suspect, since he claimed to have been sold the Eleys' farm. The case was never solved.

In the late 1870s, members of the [[Society of Friends]] (Quakers) began to move to the township from [[Indiana]]. A smaller number of people from [[Bohemia]] also settled in the area. The township's population was 663 persons in 152 households in 1900.

Farming continued to be the primary source of income. The rise of the auto industry in the late 1910s to 1920s led many younger people to leave the area to settle in the [[Detroit]] and [[Flint, Michigan|Flint]] areas of Michigan. Today, many residents of Long Lake township are retirees or commute to work in [[Traverse City]].

Long Lake Township converted from a [[civil township]] to a [[charter township]] in 2022.