Acme is an unincorporated community in the township, situated at the junction of US 31 and M-72 on the East Arm of the Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. It is about east of Traverse City at. Acme was established by L. S. Hoxie from Saratoga County, New York, who, after arriving here in 1864, purchased land and platted the settlement. Alburtus T. Hoxie, son of L. S., became the first postmaster of Acme in 1869. The post office had opened as "Whitewater" on July 16, 1857, but was renamed on June 10, 1869. The office closed on February 15, 1933, but was reestablished on February 1, 1952. The post office with ZIP code 49610 provides P.O. Box service.
Bates is an unincorporated community in the township situated on M-72 three miles east of Acme at. It was established in 1891.
Petobego is a ghost town at.
Yuba is an unincorporated community in the northern section of the township, situated on US 31 between Acme and Elk Rapids. It is situated at.
Yuba Beach is a ghost town west of Yuba at.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,332 people, 1,667 households, and 1,231 families residing in the township. The population density was 172.1 people per square mile. There were 2,215 housing units at an average density of 88.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the township was 97.30% White, 0.23% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 1.06% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.10% of the population. There were 1,667 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.3% were married couplesliving together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.99. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $50,425, and the median income for a family was $58,886. Males had a median income of $36,201 versus $26,607 for females. The per capita income for the township was $24,219. About 4.5% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.