Near this site on April 5, 1880, area residents met at the Gerrish Logging Camp to elect officers for their newly organized township, and James Watson was chosen as the first supervisor. Originally the township embraced present-day Gerrish, Lyon and Markey townships. In 1920 the present boundary line was established. The township borders on half of the shoreline of Michigan's sixth largest inland lake, Higgins Lake, and is primarily a resort area.