"Child" towns that are bigger/more major than "parent" towns

[Max Rockatansky]

In Michigan, Saginaw Township is almost the same size as Saginaw (city). In fact it's bigger in area, about 26 square miles for Saginaw Township and 18 square miles for Saginaw (city). Not sure about 2020 but in 2010 Saginaw Township had 40,840 for a population while Saginaw had 51,508 in 2010 but had an estimate of 48,115. Saginaw Township hasn't really grown much but hasn't lost population while Saginaw (city) has lost half it's population over the last 60 years.

That's actually really common for the Township to be larger than the namesake city I've found in Michigan.  Dewitt Township was (apparently still is) three times larger in population than the city of Dewitt.  I found that fact kind of vexing when I was going to high school.

[GaryV]

Isn't Saginaw Township older than the City of Saginaw? Typically the townships are organized first, and only when the population gets to a certain point is a city chartered.

So which is really the child and which the parent?

[Flint1979]

In Michigan, Saginaw Township is almost the same size as Saginaw (city). In fact it's bigger in area, about 26 square miles for Saginaw Township and 18 square miles for Saginaw (city). Not sure about 2020 but in 2010 Saginaw Township had 40,840 for a population while Saginaw had 51,508 in 2010 but had an estimate of 48,115. Saginaw Township hasn't really grown much but hasn't lost population while Saginaw (city) has lost half it's population over the last 60 years.

That's actually really common for the Township to be larger than the namesake city I've found in Michigan.  Dewitt Township was (apparently still is) three times larger in population than the city of Dewitt.  I found that fact kind of vexing when I was going to high school.

That's common for smaller cities in the state but one example is Flint Township having about 32,000 while Flint had about 102,000 in 2010, I don't see the 2020 numbers so I'm going by 2010. A city like Midland is an example of just the city having most of the population while the townships surrounding it are less populated.

[Flint1979]

Isn't Saginaw Township older than the City of Saginaw? Typically the townships are organized first, and only when the population gets to a certain point is a city chartered.

So which is really the child and which the parent?

Back when Saginaw Township was organized it was part of Oakland County and much bigger, it covered all of today's Saginaw County, part of Bay, Midland and Genesee counties. This was over 100 years ago and Saginaw Township didn't start becoming populated until the 1960's while Saginaw combined the east and west sides into a single city in 1889 well before Saginaw Township's current boundries became populated like they are today. Saginaw is indeed the parent city above Saginaw Township, Bay City and Midland.

[golden eagle]

Before the merger, West Helena, AR, was bigger than Helena.

[tolbs17]

Some people consider Durham as a suburb of Raleigh. Durham was bigger in population in the 1950s, but it's not a child town (nor a suburb or Raleigh). Both cities are in their own counties and have their own districts and laws.

[hotdogPi]

Both cities are in their own counties and have their own districts and laws.

This has nothing to do with parent/child. This applies to St. Louis and East St. Louis, which is definitely a parent/child relationship despite being in different states. (Of course, it doesn't qualify for this thread.)