Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1847.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Alpine Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alpine Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #436 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alpine 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 Alpine Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1847.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Alpine Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was originally settled by the Ottawa, who had several camps in the area. Alpine Township was formally organized in 1847 from the northern half of Walker Township. The township was named after the abundance of pine trees in the area. It became a lumbering region with several sawmills. The township was struck by a tornado during the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak. In 1979, the township became a charter township but relinquished this status and returned to a civil township in 1996.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alpine Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Cedar Springs SW sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alpine Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Alpine Township
Nobody well known was born in Alpine Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1847, according to Wikidata. Alpine Township’s post office opened in 1847.
How does Alpine Township rank for history?
Alpine Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #436 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.
How old are the homes in Alpine Township?
5% of Alpine Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 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.
