North Township, Lake County, Indiana

North Township
North Township
Township
	Coordinates: 41°36′40″N 87°28′52″W / 41.61111°N 87.48111°W
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Lake
Government
• Type	Indiana township
• Body	Township Board
• Member	Peter Katic (D)
• Member	Richard J. Novak (D)
• Member	Lisa Salinas Matonovich (D)
• Trustee	Adrian Santos (D)
Area
• Total	58.87 sq mi (152.5 km2)
• Land	53.17 sq mi (137.7 km2)
• Water	5.7 sq mi (15 km2)
Elevation	591 ft (180 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	156,686
• Density	3,063.1/sq mi (1,182.7/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (Central)
ZIP Codes	46312, 46320-25, 46327, 46394
Area code	219
FIPS code	18-54414
GNIS feature ID	453677

North Township is one of 11 townships in Lake County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 162,855 and it contained 67,828 housing units.^[5]

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1890	9,631	—
1900	21,020	118.3%
1910	48,361	130.1%
1920	84,743	75.2%
1930	132,752	56.7%
1940	139,602	5.2%
1950	162,157	16.2%
1960	204,101	25.9%
1970	203,480	−0.3%
1980	185,736	−8.7%
1990	166,928	−10.1%
2000	165,656	−0.8%
2010	162,855	−1.7%
2020	156,686	−3.8%
Source: US Decennial Census^[6]

History

North Township was formed in 1837 as one of the original townships of Lake County. At that time it stretched across the entire north portion of the county.^[7] Its boundaries were reduced a number of times in the 19th century, including in 1849 by the formation of Hobart Township south of the Little Calumet River and in 1883 by the formation of Calumet Township, Lake County, Indiana from the area between Hobart Township and Lake Michigan. In 2022, its boundaries expanded to include much of Griffith, which moved from Calumet Township to North Township after a lengthy dispute between Griffith and Calumet Township.^[8]

The earliest known community in North Township was Gibson, now part of Hammond, which was located near the site of the present-day Gibson Yard on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad.^[9]

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of 58.87 square miles (152.5 km²), of which 53.17 square miles (137.7 km²) (or 90.32%) is land and 5.7 square miles (15 km²) (or 9.68%) is water.^[5]