Algoma Township dates to 1843, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #271 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Algoma Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listing is the Porter Hollow Embankment and Culvert. Below: maps from 1918 on.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1856.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Algoma Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Algoma Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #271 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Algoma Township’s overall grade.
Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Algoma Township’s 0.8 sits above most of its state (65% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). Two sources give 1843.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Algoma Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Algoma
1856–1860
Burch's
1868–1879
Edgerton
1869–1937
Algoma
1896–1899
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Chauteau Algoma Estates Mobile Home ParkEdgerton
Gone or out of use
Algoma Post Officepost officeBurch's Post Officepost officeEdgerton Post Officepost officeEdgerton Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Algoma Township
Algoma TownshipBriggs Family
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Algoma Township on the map, 1918 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Algoma Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Cedar Springs sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Algoma Township.
Algoma was originally settled in 1843. The township was established in 1849.
In 1856, C. C. Comstock of Grand Rapids founded a mill in the township around which developed the community of Gougeburg.
A village by the name of Burchville was established in 1868. It had a post office until 1879. In 1869, the village of Edgerton was established. It had its own post office until 1937.
In 1843, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Algoma Township’s post office opened in 1856.
How does Algoma Township rank for history?
Algoma Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #271 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Algoma Township?
One place: the Porter Hollow Embankment and Culvert (listed 2001).
How old are the homes in Algoma Township?
6% of Algoma Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1995.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
