Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #583 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Amber Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1932 on and old-book passages.
The Amber Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Amber (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Amber Township was named after Amber, New York, the former home of an early resident.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Amber Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #583 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Amber 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.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Amber Township’s history is told.
Another post office, Amber, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Amber Township.
Amber Township was organized in 1867. It was named after Amber, New York, the former home of an early resident.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Amber Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
If so, go east seven miles along the F. &. P. M. R. R. line in Amber Township. There you will find the “ Star in the East,” that three months ago a few men of energy saw, then a clearing along which a few blazed trees hinted a railroad line. Now, behold! -The railroad grubbed and cleared, a village surveyed and platted, con¬ taining a store and hotel, stocked and running. This is Amber village, alim Slaghtburg — the railroad’s first bom in Mason County Digitized by
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Amber Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Amber Township.
Nobody well known was born in Amber Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Amber Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Amber Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #583 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.
9% of Amber Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1991.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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