Union Charter Township is a charter township of Isabella County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 12,927 at the 2010 census, and decreased to 11,699 at the 2020 census. The city of Mount Pleasant is entirely surrounded by the township on incorporated land that was formerly part of the township, but the two are administratively separate.

Communities

  • Mount Pleasant was a former community of Union Charter Township that has since been incorporated into a city and is now administered separately from the township. Though separate, it is the only remaining community in existence from within the township.

Former Communities

  • Isabella City was the first community established in the township. It was located at E. River Road and S. Mission Road (formerly U.S. Highway 27). It was located on the north side of the Chippewa River, and its streets ran parallel and perpendicular to the river. Main Street and Fitch Street, now Craig Hill Road and E. River Road respectively, are the last remaining streets of the town. Only the part west of S. Mission Road, which runs at odds with the community's platted streets, remains developed, while the rest of the city has been reclaimed by nature. Residents of the area now refer to the area as Dogtown, and the name Isabella City has been largely forgotten, though its plat is still recorded with the county records.
  • Longwood was located between E. River Road and E. Airport Road (now Industrial Drive) off the east side of S. Mission Road (formerly U.S. Highway 27). This town was absorbed into the City of Mount Pleasant. Hardly any of its original buildings exist today.
  • South Mount Pleasant existed off the north side of E. Deerfield Road between S. Crawford Road and S. Mission Road (formerly U.S. Highway 27). S. Washington Street use to extend from W. Broomfield Street to E. Deerfield Road and right at the intersection of Deerfield and Washington was where the town sat. Today the town has been turned into a biological wild life preserve for Central Michigan University, and no remnants of the town remain, though its plat is still recorded with the county records.

History

The first settlers came to Union Township in 1854 when pioneer John Hursh and his family arrived in the area. Various settlements in the of the original township have long disappeared or been absorbed by the City of Mount Pleasant that lies in the center of Union Township. The Charter Township of Union traces its name to the Civil War. A month before the first shots of war rang out at Fort Sumter, the Board of Supervisors formally established Union Township on March 9, 1861.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.42%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census