Henrietta Township is a civil township of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,673 at the 2020 census.

History

Jean Baptiste Berard (also spelled Boreaux by descendants) claimed to have settled here in 1816 and had established a trading post in 1831. Nearby Batteese Lake and Batteese Creek were named after him, as his name was also commonly written as "Battise" by other early settlers. The township was organized in 1837 with the name "West Portage". In 1839, Henry Hurd had the town renamed "Henrietta", after his home town of Henrietta, New York. A post office named "Portage" opened on May 21, 1838, with John Davidson as the first postmaster. The name changed to "West Portage" on December 14, 1838, and then to "Henrietta" on May 13, 1840. The post office was discontinued on December 14, 1903. Another post office, named "South Henrietta", opened on September 5, 1851, with Henry Hurd as the first postmaster, and was succeeded by William D. Martin on May 10, 1853. The office continued until December 21, 1866.

Communities

  • Henrietta Station is a mostly historical locale in the southeastern part of the township on Coon Hill Road at . It was a stop on the Western Jackson branch of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad.
  • Pleasant Lake is an unincorporated community at the junction of N. Meridian Road and E. Berry Road at , just south of the lake of the same name. The lake was known as Spring Lake until John Wenstren purchased of land adjoining the lake in 1836. A village named Pleasant Lake was platted in 1868, but never incorporated. A post office opened on October 13, 1961, with Leo E. Osterberg as the first postmaster.
  • Munith is a small unincorporated community on M-106 on the boundary between Waterloo and Henrietta townships. The Munith post office with ZIP code 49259 also serves portions of Henrietta Township.
  • Roots is an unincorporated community on Root Station Road between Jordon and Wooster roads at , Roots was a station on the Western Jackson branch of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. A post office named "Tanner" was established there on April 14, 1884. The name changed to "Roots" on September 11, 1885, then to "Valley Villa" on December 20, 1885, and the name of Roots was restored on March 1, 1890. The office was discontinued on November 14, 1904.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (2.89%) is water.

It is drained by tributaries of the Portage River, which runs along the township's southern boundary and is part of the Grand River watershed.

A portion of Meridian-Baseline State Park is located within Henrietta Township.

Demographics

As of the census