thumb|250px|right|Sumpter Police Department

Sumpter Township is a civil township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,660 at the 2020 census. The community was settled as early as 1840 and was briefly part of Van Buren Township until Sumpter Township was organized that same year. A post office operated here from April 7, 1866, until September 16, 1906. The Martinsville Cemetery remains in the area as an active cemetery.

  • Smithsville is a former community in the eastern portion of the township. It was given a post office named Woodville on April 12, 1852, and renamed Smithville on January 18, 1858. The post office was renamed again and transferred to Waltz on February 19, 1872.
  • West Sumpter is an unincorporated community centered along the intersection of Karr Road and Wear Road at . The community was one of the first settlements in the township and was named after Revolutionary War veteran and later politician Thomas Sumter, although inaccurately spelled as Sumpter Township. A post office named West Sumpter operated from March 24, 1874, until February 28, 1902.

History

Sumpter Township was designated Township 4 South in Range 8 East of Wayne County. The original survey was approved on November 5, 1819. Federal land in Sumpter Township began to be sold to individuals by the 1830s, with one land patent to Arthur Fuller on April 4, 1833. Sumpter Township has a brief history on their web page.

Sumpter Township, including Township 4 South, of Range 8 East, was taken from Huron township and erected into a separate township on April 6, 1840, under the name of West Huron. Subsequently the name was changed to that of Sumter in honor of General Thomas Sumter, Revolutionary war hero, but the engrossing clerk inserted a "p" in the name, which has since remained Sumpter.

The township received its first settlers before it was set off from Huron Township. George Jewett, one of the first assessors of Huron township lived in what is now Sumpter, and Ira P. Beach was elected the first supervisor when Sumpter township was erected.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.21%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census Sumpter Township had a population of 9,549. The ethnic and racial makeup of the population was 82.1% non-Hispanic white, 12.0% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% from some other race, 2.9% reporting two or more races and 2.6% Hispanic or Latino.

As of the census

The township itself no longer contains any public school buildings after Lincoln Consolidated closed Bessie Hoffman Elementary at the end of the 2009–10 school year. The school was built in 1965 and is located at 50700 Willow Road. Following its closure, it remains vacant.

References

Sources

  • Sumpter Township official website
  • Sumpter Township Police Department official website