Melrose Township is located in eastern Charlevoix County and is bordered by Emmet County to the north. The southwest corner of the township touches the city limits of Boyne City. The southeast end of Walloon Lake occupies the northwest corner of the township. According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of, of which is land and, or 5.77%, is water.
Communities
There are no incorporated municipalities in the township. There are a few unincorporated communities:
Walloon Lake is a hamlet and census-designated place at the southeastern end of Walloon Lake at. The childhood summer cottage of Ernest Hemingway was located nearby. In 1872, John Jones, Jr. and his sons, Clarence and Elliot, homesteaded in the area. They helped to cut the railroad ties used to build the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway in 1874. The stop was named Melrose. The community applied for a post office named Bear Lake, but there already was a Bear Lake post office in Michigan. A post office named Tolcott was established in October 1897, and renamed Talcott in March 1899, and again renamed as Walloon Lake in September 1900. The name was suggested by a local butcher, J. R. Haas, who had seen the name on an old railroad map. An investigation into how the name came to be on the map indicated that many years earlier a group of Walloons had settled at the north end of the lake, which was then known as Bear Lake. No trace of the settlement remains.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,388 people, 517 households, and 387 families residing in the township. The population density was 42.2 per square mile. There were 875 housing units at an average density of 26.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the township was 98.05% White, 0.07% African American, 0.65% Native American, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population. There were 517 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.8% were married couplesliving together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.09. In the township the population was spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $41,000, and the median income for a family was $45,385. Males had a median income of $29,813 versus $21,620 for females. The per capita income for the township was $20,426. About 5.4% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.
