York Township, Steuben County, Indiana

Infobox Settlement
official_name = York Township
settlement_type = Township
nickname =
motto =

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map_caption = Location in Steuben County


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Indiana
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Steuben
government_footnotes =
government_type = Indiana township
leader_title =
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area_footnotes =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 57.74
area_land_km2 = 57.74
area_water_km2 = 0
area_total_sq_mi = 22.29
area_land_sq_mi = 22.29
area_water_sq_mi = 0
area_water_percent = 0

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 670
population_density_km2 = 11.6
population_density_sq_mi = 30.1

elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 297
elevation_ft = 974
latd = 41
latm = 39
lats = 28
latNS = N
longd = 84
longm = 50
longs = 37
longEW = W

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blank_name = GNIS feature ID
blank_info = [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:0454070 0454070]
website =
footnotes =

York Township is one of twelve townships in Steuben County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 670 [ [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=4001&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=06000US1815186030&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en United States Census Bureau American FactFinder] ] .

Geography

York Township covers an area of 22.29 square miles (57.74 square kilometers). The streams of Hanselman Branch and West Branch Fish Creek run through this township.

Unincorporated towns

* Berlien
* Courtney Corner
* Eastpoint Terminal
* Metz
* Page
* York(This list is based on USGS data and may include former settlements.)

Adjacent townships

* Clear Lake Township (north)
* Richland Township (south)
* Otsego Township (southwest)
* Scott Township (west)
* Fremont Township (northwest)

Cemeteries

The township contains three cemeteries: Dygert, York, and Powers. ["Steuben County Cemeteries"]

Major highways

*
*

History

In the decades before it was settled by white immigrants, York township and the surrounding area was the doman of the Potawatomi Indians.

The first recorded white settler in York Township was Fayette Barron, who built a homestead at what would become Metz in 1836. The following year saw the arrival of the Powers families, who settled in the northwest sections of the township. Two Powers brothers had scouted the area the year before, and now brought six families on a long journey from New York state. [Folck, p. 46.]

In 1879, the Powers families and neighbors built what is now known as the Powers Church. [Folck, p. 46.] The land for a nondenominational church (hence its other name "Free Church") had been donated in 1839 by Clark Powers, head of one of the original Powers families. The last regular services were held at the church in the 1920s. [Taylor et al., p. 24.] The church was restored into 1976 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The unincoporated village of Metz reached its heyday during the late 19th and early 20th century. At one point or another it boasted a sawmill, a hotel, physicians, an undertaker, and several of the more typical retail shops. [Anspaugh.] In 1919, the York township schools were consolidated with those of Richland Township into the Metz school. This school, with students from kindergarten through high school, operated for 40 years, until it was closed in 1959, a victim of falling enrollment. [Anspaugh.]

References

*Anspaugh, Colleen (1997) "Old towns", "Steuben Herald-Republican", Angola, Indiana, p. A3.
* Folck, Dorsey (1956) "York Township", Harvey Morley, editor, "The 1955 History, Complete County Atlas, pictorial and Biographical Album of Steuben County, Indiana", Angola, Indiana, pp. 46-47.
*" [http://www.ingenweb.org/insteuben/cem/index.html Steuben County Cemeteries] ", Steuben County, Indiana, INGenWeb Site, accessed August 12, 2008.
*Taylor, Robert M.; Stevens, Errol Wayne; Ponder, Mary Ann (1990) "Indiana: A New Historical Guide", Indiana Historical Society, ISBN 978-0871950482.
* [http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/ U.S. Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)]
* [http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/ United States Census Bureau cartographic boundary files]

External links

* [http://www.indianatownshipassoc.org/counties/Steuben.htm Indiana Township Association page for Steuben County]