Rudyard Township ( ) is a civil township of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 1,289. In 2023, Rudyard Township was designated the "Snowy Owl Capital of Michigan".

History

Rudyard is an unincorporated community within the township located on M-48, near I-75. The community was originally named "Pine River". However, because there was already another town in Michigan with that name, it was changed in 1890 to Rudyard. The name was suggested by Frederick Douglas Underwood, an executive with the Soo Line Railroad, because of his great admiration for Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling wrote back to Mr. Underwood, in reference to the naming of the towns of Rudyard and Kipling, Michigan.

Geography

Rudyard Township is in south-central Chippewa County on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is bordered to the south by Mackinac County. Interstate 75 crosses the township, with access to Rudyard village from Exit 373. From the exit, I-75 leads north to Sault Ste. Marie and south to St. Ignace on the Straits of Mackinac.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.46%, is water.

Climate

Communities

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  • Dryburg was a station on the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad. It had a post office from 1903 until 1943.

Demographics

As of the census