Garfield Township was organized in January 1882 as Traverse Township. When Grand Traverse County was first organized, it comprised two townships: The Old Mission Peninsula was Peninsula Township, with its present boundaries, and the remainder of the county, including what is now Garfield Township was included in Traverse Township. It is one of six townships named Garfield in Michigan, but the only one that is a charter township.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Kratochvil's Plat is a ghost town on the northwestern shore of Silver Lake on Silver Lake Road near Secor Road
Ransom is a small settlement just outside of south of Traverse City at South Airport Road, Veterans Drive, and Victoria Drive
Traverse City is northeast of Garfield Township, also touching East Bay and Peninsula townships in Grand Traverse County, and Elmwood Township in Leelanau County.
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 16,256 people, 7,367 households, and 4,040 families residing in the township. The population density was. There were 8,194 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the township was 93.87% White, 0.80% African American, 1.18% Native American, 1.06% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.67% from other races, and 2.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.45% of the population. There were 7,367 households, out of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were married couplesliving together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.2% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.83. In the township the population was spread out, with 20.1% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $41,712, and the median income for a family was $55,977. Males had a median income of $30,167 versus $23,672 for females. The per capita income for the township was $26,390. About 10.1% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.9% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
