Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1855.
History grade
What drives Ashland Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashland Township is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #561 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ashland 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 Ashland 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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). Two sources give 1854.
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 Ashland Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ashland Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ashland Township is a civil township of Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,764. The city of Grant is adjacent to the township. The township was established in 1854.
Ashland Township was established in 1854. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,773 in 2010, 2,764 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Ashland Township in 1884
Passages that mention Ashland Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Portrait and biographical album of Newaygo County, Michigan1884 · page 247Read the page →
Read the text
followed that business about two and a half years He passed some years in various employments, and in the fall of 1852 pre-empted a portion of section 15 in Ashland Township, where he has sinceresided and operated as a farmer. He was the third perma¬ nent settler, and is identified with the pioneer history of Ashland Township and the development of Ne¬ waygo County. He owns 80 acres of land, and has
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Portrait and biographical album of Newaygo County, Michigan1884 · page 549Read the page →
Read the text
size, to allow of the erection of other townships, and now contains only township i i north, 14 west. It is bounded on the north by Sheridan Township, on the east by Ashland Township, and on the south and west by Muskegon County. In the eastern part of the township is the old post-office of Bridgeton.
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.
Timeline
Ashland Township, 1854 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashland Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Fremont 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 Ashland Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Ashland Township
Nobody well known was born in Ashland Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ashland Township’s post office opened in 1855.
How does Ashland Township rank for history?
Ashland Township is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #561 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 Ashland Township?
11% of Ashland Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 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.
