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–Not graded
History · Grand River Township

12% of Grand River Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: United States Census Bureau, modified by User:FUBAR007 · Public domain

What stands out about Grand River Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Grand River Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18896 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1990. Watch Grand River Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grand River Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grand River Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Grand River Township on the map, 1889 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grand River Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Grand River Township on the 1889 USGS mapGrand River Township on the 1891 USGS mapGrand River Township on the 1901 USGS mapGrand River Township on the 1964 USGS mapGrand River Township on the 1982 USGS mapGrand River Township on the 1990 USGS map1889Cheney sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grand River Township.

The story

How Grand River Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Grand River Township.

Read it all →

Grand River Township was established in 1876. The first white settler in the township was David Moore.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Grand River Township, 1879 to 1894

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Birch post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1894Post officeThe Birch post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Grand River Township

Nobody well known was born in Grand River Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
C
Colton HaynesAmerican actor and model · b. 1986
Derek NorrisAmerican baseball player · b. 1989
Howard J. McMurrayAmerican politician · b. 1901
Ed SieverAmerican baseball player · b. 1875
J
Joe SeiwertAmerican politician · b. 1951
J
Jon GnagyAmerican artist · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Birch, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Paul
Gone or out of use
Bartholomew Oil FieldoilfieldBirchlocaleCoombs Air Stripairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Grand River Township
PioneerSaint Paul Lutheran

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Evan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSumner TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMorton TownshipIts storyCGarden Plain TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Grand River Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.