James and Robert Cowen built a mill along Nottawa Creek in this township in 1832 at a site called Cowen's Mills.

[6] Another place called Factoryville was established around a sawmill on Nottawa Creek in 1839.

As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 1,239 people, 407 households, and 326 families residing in the township.

There were 407 households, out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.8% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.9% were non-families.

15.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.