Orleans Township, Michigan

Orleans Township is a civil township of Ionia County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,664 at the 2020 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (1.99%) is water.

Chadwick was a community started by Charles Chadwick in 1856. When the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad was built in 1872 Chadwick got a depot on the railroad located here. It had a post office from 1872 until 1907.
Orleans is an unincorporated community at . A post office at this location was established in 1844, named Wheatland. In 1868, the post office was renamed Orleans, after Orleans County, New York, from which a number of settlers originated. In 1870, a depot on the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad opened in Orleans. In 1871, Orleans was platted as Palmer, however the name was changed shortly thereafter.
Shiloh is an unincorporated community at . A post office at this location was established in 1877 as Smith's Crossing, and was the site of a station on the Stanton branch of the Ionia and Lansing Railroad. In 1877, the community changed its name in honor of the Battle of Shiloh, an 1862 battle of the American Civil War.

As of the census