According to the
United States Census Bureau, Baraga Township has a total area of 187.2 square miles (484.8 km2), of which 183.8 square miles (476.0 km2) is land and 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2), or 1.82%, is water.[3]
Assinins is an unincorporated community at 46°48′37″N88°28′38″W / 46.81028°N 88.47722°W / 46.81028; -88.47722 (Assinins, Michigan).[9] Assinins was founded in 1843 by Catholic missionary
Frederic Baraga, who named it for an
Assiniboin chief whom Baraga had converted and who remained Baraga's devoted friend. In the 1870s, the settlement was known as the "Catholic Mission". The first post office in the area was named "Fewsville" from 1872, after Gershom B. Few, who operated a
distillery, and George W. Few, who became the first postmaster on September 22, 1875. The office closed in 1877. It reopened as "Assinins" on December 6, 1894, with Simon Denomie as the first postmaster and discontinued on May 31, 1914.[6][10]
Baraga is a village at the junction of
US Highway 41 and
M-38 in the east-central portion of the township. The Baraga
ZIP code 49908 serves a region in the central part of the township.[11]
Pelkie is an unincorporated community in the northeast part of the township. The Pelkie ZIP code 49958 serves areas in the northern and northwestern parts of the township.[15]
Demographics
In 2020, its population was 3,478 and as of 2021 census estimates, it had a median household income of $40,403.[16]