Hopkins Township, Michigan
township in Allegan County, Michigan
Hopkins Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,760 at the 2020 census. The township is named after Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Communities
The village of Hopkins is in the southwest of the township on Bear Creek.
Hopkinsburg is a small unincorporated community within the township at 42°37′08″N 85°42′10″W, a few miles east of Hopkins on Miller Creek. Was first settled in 1837 by R.C. Round, whose great grandmother, Martha Hopkins Round, was the brother of Stephen Hopkins. Stephen was the namesake of the community. Was followed up by his brother-in-law, Erastus Congdon, in 1838.
Hilliards is a small unincorporated community in the north of the township, a few miles west of Wayland at 42°40′29″N 85°43′42″W.
The city of Wayland is not within the township, but is adjacent to it in the northeast corner. Some development associated with the city extends into the township near the exit from U.S. Highway 131.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hopkins Township, Michigan” as township in Allegan County, Michigan. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as township in Allegan County, Michigan. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5900737. Authority coordinates are 42.639, -85.724. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1837 and 1838.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hopkins Township, Michigan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hopkins Township, Michigan primary sources, Hopkins Township, Michigan archive and Hopkins research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hopkins Township, Michigan”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hopkins Township, Michigan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.