Empire Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 764 at the 2020 census. On the shores of Lake Michigan, Empire Township contains a substantial amount of land within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
History
Empire Township was established in 1865.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was established in 1970, protecting the natural scenery of the area at the federal level.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (17.66%) is water.
Empire Township contains shorelines on both Lake Michigan and Glen Lake.
Major highways
- is a north–south highway paralleling the coast of Lake Michigan. M-22 exits Empire Township south into Benzie County, and north into Glen Arbor Township, over the narrows of Glen Lake.
- is an east–west highway with its western terminus at M-22 in Empire, less than a mile from Lake Michigan. East of Empire Township, M-72 crosses the Lower Peninsula by way of Traverse City, Kalkaska, Grayling, Mio, and Harrisville, whereupon it ends less than a mile from Lake Huron.
- is a scenic route adjacent to M-22 that has its southern terminus in Empire Township. The highway travels north through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to Glen Haven, where it turns east and ends at another junction with M-22 in downtown Glen Arbor.
Communities
- Burdickville is an unincorporated community and ghost town on the shore of Glen Lake, at . Burdickville was established in 1864, and abandoned in 1912. Burdickville was founded in 1864 by William D. Burdick.
- The village of Empire is located in the west of the township, on the shore of Lake Michigan.
- Jacktown was a former rail station just north of the Benzie County line along a railroad branch line to Empire.
Demographics
As of the census