A Short History Of Valley Township

Surveyed in 1831, Valley Township was organized as Pine Plains Township in 1850. This included Clyde and Lee Townships, which would later be separated from Pine Plains in 1859. The area northwest of the river were taken from Heath and given to Pine Plains in 1871. This gave it its current borders. The first settlers arrived circa 1837. The road from Allegan to Saugatuck was surveyed circa 1834. This road intersects the township. A post office was installed at Mill Grove but it would later be shut down. On January 1, 1898, Pine Plains became Valley Township. The reasoning was that the name Pine Plains suggested sandy soil and would create little demand for the sale of farm land.

Valley Township Statistics

Valley Township has a total area of 93.2km² or 36mi². 85.3km² (23.5mi²) of it is land and 7.9km² (3 mi²) is water. The total area is 8.45% water. As of the 2000 census, Valley Township had a population of 1,831. Other stats include:

• 680 Households
• 531 Families
• Population Density: 21.5/km² (55.6/mi²)
• Out of the 680 Households:

• 34% have children under 18 living with them.
• 66% are married couples living together
• 8.4% have a female householder with no husband present
• 21.8% are non-families
• 15.9% of all households are made up of individuals
• 4.7% have someone living alone who is 65 or older
• Average household size is 2.68
• Average family size is 2.98

• Age Distributions:

• Under 18: 25.5%
• 18 to 24: 5.8%
• 25 to 44: 30.8%
• 45 to 64: 27.9%
• 65 and older: 9.9%

• The median age is 38
• For every 100 females, there are 100.1 males
• For every 100 females of age 18 and over, there are 99.7 males
• Median income for a household: $48,672
• Median income for a family: $52,893
• Median income for males: $36,026
• Median income for females: $27,278
• Township per capita income: $21,990
• 6.2% of the population and 4.7% of families are below the poverty line
• Of the population, 7.3% of those under 18 and 1.1% of people 65 or older are below the poverty line