Editing Fort Gratiot Township, Michigan

{{Hatnote|"Keewahdin, Michigan" redirects here. For the community in Antrim County, see [[Kewadin, Michigan]]. For the former township in Wayne County, see [[Gratiot Township, Michigan]].}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Fort Gratiot Township, Michigan
| official_name      = Charter Township of Fort Gratiot
| settlement_type    = [[Charter township]]
| nickname           = 
| motto              = <!-- Images -->
| image_skyline      = 
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = 
| image_flag         = 
| image_seal         = <!-- Maps -->
| pushpin_map        = Michigan
| pushpin_label_position = left<!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_label      = Fort Gratiot Township
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Michigan
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| image_map          = Fort Gratiot Charter Township, MI.png
| mapsize            = 250
| map_caption        = Location within [[St. Clair County, Michigan|St. Clair County]]

<!-- Location -->| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Michigan]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Michigan|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[St. Clair County, Michigan|St. Clair]]

<!-- Government -->| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_title       = Supervisor
| leader_name        = Robert Montgomery 
| leader_title1      = 
| leader_name1       = 
| established_title  = Established
| established_date   = 1866

<!-- Area -->| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = 
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 41.7
| area_land_km2      = 41.7
| area_water_km2     = 0.1
| area_total_sq_mi   = 16.1
| area_land_sq_mi    = 16.1
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.0

<!-- Population -->| population_as_of   = [[United States Census, 2020|2020]]
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total   = 11242
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_sq_mi = auto

<!-- General information -->| timezone           = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset         = -5
| timezone_DST       = EDT
| utc_offset_DST     = -4
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 185
| elevation_ft       = 607
| coordinates        = {{coord|43|02|19|N|82|28|37|W|region:US-MI|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP Code|ZIP code(s)]]
| postal_code        = 48059
| area_code          = [[Area code 810|810]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 26-29760<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 1626300<ref>{{gnis|1626300}}</ref>
| website            = {{URL|https://fortgratiot.us/|Official website}}
| footnotes          = 
}}
'''Fort Gratiot Township''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|r|æ|ʃ|ɪ|t}} {{respell|GRASH|it}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.michigan.gov/leo/0,5863,7-336-78421_28313_54234-401841--,00.html#F|title=Pronunciation Guide - You Say it How in Michigan?|website=Michigan.gov Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity|access-date=May 22, 2020}}</ref> is a [[charter township]] of [[St. Clair County, Michigan|St. Clair County]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Michigan]].  The population was 11,242 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 Census]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Fort_Gratiot_charter_township,_St._Clair_County,_Michigan?g=060XX00US2614729760 |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref>  It is named for [[Fort Gratiot]], an American fort located there off and on between 1814 and 1879.

==History==
Fort Gratiot Township was established in 1867.<ref>Walter Romig, ''Michigan Place Names'', p. 204</ref> It is named for General [[Charles Gratiot]], the engineer who laid out the fort.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n128 129]}}</ref>

==Communities==
* '''Gardendale''' is an [[unincorporated community]] near the center of the township at {{Coord|43|02|19|N|82|29|33|W|}}.<ref>{{gnis|1624556|Gardendale, Michigan}}</ref> It was a station on the [[Pere Marquette Railway]]. A post office operated from March 1891 until March 1906.<ref name="Romig">{{cite book | last = Romig | first = Walter  | year = 1986 | title = Michigan Place Names | orig-year= 1973 | publisher = [[Wayne State University Press]] | location = Detroit, Michigan | isbn = 0-8143-1838-X}}</ref>
* '''Keewahdin''' or '''Keewahdin Beach''' was a resort developed in 1914 by the Keewahdin Park Association on [[Lake Huron]] north of Port Huron. The name was likely derived from Kewadin, a famous [[Ojibwe]] leader.<ref name="Romig"/> It is located at {{Coord|43|02|23|N|82|26|40|W|}}.<ref>{{gnis|1624639|Keewahdin}}</ref>
* The city of [[Port Huron, Michigan|Port Huron]] is adjacent to the southeast.

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the township has a total area of {{convert|16.1|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|16.1|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|0.04|sqmi|km2}} (0.19%) is water.

Fort Gratiot is on the southwestern shore of [[Lake Huron]] and is considered to be part of [[the Thumb]] of [[Michigan]], which in turn is a subregion of the [[Flint/Tri-Cities]]. Fort Gratiot is a major center of trade for the Blue Water Area, a subregion of the Thumb. The [[Birchwood Mall]] and many big box stores are located in Fort Gratiot.

==Demographics==
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 10,691 people, 4,076 households, and 2,946 families residing in the township.  The population density was {{convert|664.7|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 4,334 housing units at an average density of {{convert|269.5|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the township was 95.43% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.46% Black, 0.26% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 1.34% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.01% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.52% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.98% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.75% of the population.

There were 4,076 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.7% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the township the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $50,736, and the median income for a family was $55,726. Males had a median income of $43,268 versus $25,667 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the township was $25,485.  About 4.2% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://fortgratiot.us/}}

{{St. Clair County, Michigan}}

[[Category:Townships in St. Clair County, Michigan]]
[[Category:Charter townships in Michigan]]
[[Category:1867 establishments in Michigan]]
[[Category:Populated places on Lake Huron in the United States]]