The land that became the township was divided among nine or ten shareholders, one of whom, General Henry Champion, originally owned much of the property and had acquired all of the township land by December 1798, and it took his name.

[7] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2), all land.

As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 4,727 people, 1,850 households, and 1,376 families residing in the CDP.

There were 1,897 housing units at an average density of 557.8 per square mile (215.4/km2).

22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.