Community

COMMUNITY INFORMATION

About
Portsmouth Township

Portsmouth Charter Township is a charter township located in Bay County, Michigan. The township has a total area of 20.1 square miles of which 20 square miles is land and .1 square miles is water.

The township's population was 3,224 as of the 2020 census. The township is largely agricultural with more densely populated residential areas in the northwest portion.

View our Master Plan to see more township demographics.

Township History Timeline

•1836…Village of Portsmouth is platted
•1837…Michigan becomes a state
•1857…Bay City name is adopted
...Bay County is organized with only 2 townships: Williams and Hampton
•1859…Bangor, Portsmouth and Arenac are organized
•1873…Village of Portsmouth merged with Village of Bay City
…Portsmouth Township is created/founded
...First Township Board elected: Benjamin Partridge (Supervisor), Henry Hess (Clerk), Nelson Merritt (Treasurer)
•1877…Village of Banks, Salzburg & Wenona merged to form West Bay City
•1905…West Bay City merged with Bay City

TOWNSHIP HISTORY

GENERAL BENJAMIN PARTRIDGE

Benjamin Partridge served as the first Supervisor of Portsmouth Township, an office he filled for over 10 years. He served as the Bay County Sheriff before enlisting as a member of the 16th Michigan Infantry, with the regiment fighting in every major battle including Gettysburg. He used the title of General although he never held that rank while serving in the military.

Partridge purchased land in Portsmouth Village prior to the war and obtained more in Portsmouth Township after the war. His farm straddled Tuscola Plank Road (now M-15), which he helped get constructed. He also helped organize the first Bay County Fair.

General Partridge died on October 19, 1892 at the age of 70 due to complications from ill health after being burned in a barn fire. He is buried in Elm Lawn Cemetary.

TUSCOLA PLANK ROAD

The Tuscola Plank Road (now Tuscola Rd./M-15) was the first improved road in Bay County. It was built 7 years before the railroad reached Bay City, with General Partridge doing the surveying in 1859. The community raised $40,000 to assist with completing the project, which included a toll gate constructed at the Cass Road intersection. The improved road helped open up a rich tract of farmland in practically untouched area of the County.

The plank roads never last long in Bay County as freezing, spring rains, swamps, and soggy land warped and decayed the boards quickly, requiring constant repair. By the 1880s, the County began building roads with stone materials.

The divided M-15 highway was constructed in 1955.

PORTSMOUTH TOWNSHIP HALL

The earliest indication of a Portsmouth Township Hall is shown on an 1886 map in the same vicinity of the Hall today. The Hall at one time was used not only for township business, but weddings, card parties, and society meetings ranging from the The Grange, The Gleaners, Farm Bureau, and Women's Societies.

The former Township Hall included a wood stove, pump for water, and an outhouse. A fire destroyed the building in the mid-1970s. The new hall was built in 1975 and has seen improvements over the years along with the addition of a Fire Department and development of the grounds for recreation.

The township contains some of the richest farms in the county, and has always been well managed. The township officials have provided excellent drainage, good roads and three school houses for educational and meeting purposes.

-History of Bay County Michigan and Representative Citizens
by Capt. Augustus Gansser, 1905