Ann Arbor Township dates to 1824, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #175 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Ann Arbor Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listing is the Parker Mill Complex. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1875.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ann Arbor Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ann Arbor Township is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #175 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ann Arbor 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 Ann Arbor Township’s 10.9 sits above most of its state (83% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). Two sources give 1824.
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 Ann Arbor Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ann Arbor Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902South Lyon 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 Ann Arbor Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Geddes, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Barton HillsFosterGeddesNorthfield
Gone or out of use
Geddes Post Officepost officeGeddes Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ann Arbor Township
BotsfordWashtenong Memorial Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
By decade
Ann Arbor Township, decade by decade
4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The region was once inhabited by several Native American tribes, the most prominent being the Anishinaabe people of the Three Fires: the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. The Potawatomi founded two villages in the area of what is now Ann Arbor in about 1774. Other tribes that inhabited the area included the Wyandots and Sauk. These peoples established several trails that converged on present-day Ann Arbor. The land that included Washtenaw County was ceded to the U.S. by the Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Wyandot in the Treaty of Detroit of 1807.
In 1824, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ann Arbor Township’s post office opened in 1875, and the census of 1860 counted 5,097 people here.
How does Ann Arbor Township rank for history?
Ann Arbor Township is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #175 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 Ann Arbor Township?
One place: the Parker Mill Complex (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Ann Arbor Township?
7% of Ann Arbor Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1989.
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), the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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