Saline Township is a civil township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,277 at the 2020 census. The city of Saline borders the township on the northeast, and the two are administered autonomously.

Communities

  • Benton is an unincorporated community located within the township at . Benton was originally settled along the Detroit–Chicago Pike (present-day U.S. Route 12) with a post office on May 8, 1834. The post office operated until May 21, 1883 but was restored from September 13, 1883 until it ultimately closed on January 5, 1885.
  • Union District is a historic community located within the township. A rural post office operated here from May 28, 1836 until September 26, 1859.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.29%) is water.

Major highways

  • runs southwest through the center of the township.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census Saline Township had a population of 1,896. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 93.9% white, 2.1% black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from some other race and 2.3% from two or more races. 2.5% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the census

Development

Starting in February 2026, construction began on a large controversial data center located on East Michigan Avenue in Benton known as The Barn. The facility will primarily be used and operated by OpenAI and the tech giant Oracle. The project is situated on a 575-acre site.

Images

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References

Sources

  • Saline Township official website