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B−History
History · Attica Township

Attica Township’s post office opened in 1871, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #383 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1963 on.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Attica Township began

When was Attica Township founded?

1871

The Attica Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Pool (1856), Mill Station (1867) and Elk Lake (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 4,706155 years

How historic is Attica Township?

B−

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Attica Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Attica Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Attica Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #383 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Attica Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194026.4% of homes (±8.6) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 45%

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 Attica 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 is a Census survey estimate (±8.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Attica Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Attica Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Attica Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Attica Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pool
1856–1887
Mill Station
1867–1870
Elk Lake
1870–1871
Attica
1871–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Attica
Gone or out of use
Pool Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Attica Township
Attica TownshipBethany MennoniteRoscoeSouth Attica

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Attica Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Attica Township.

Read it all →

In 1851, William Williams from New York state built a sawmill here, and most of the settlement developed on his land. I. N. Jenness, a lumberman and also from New York, is considered as co-founder of the community. A post office named "Mill Station" was established on October 9, 1867, with Oscar A. Williams as the first postmaster. The office was renamed "Elk Lake" on September 12, 1870, and became "Attica", after the township, on February 1, 1871. The Attica Hotel, built in Attica, Michigan in the early 1870s, was originally called the Williams House and later the Schirmer House.The Williams family had 14 children, and there are five bedrooms on the second floor wing. The second floor also held a ballroom with a door leading to the second floor porch. At one time, there were a total of nine doors, and four porches, and the hotel held a post office. It was later moved to Crossroads Vill…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Attica Township, 1856 to 1963

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Pool post office opens
  3. 1867Post officeThe Mill Station post office opens
  4. 1870Post officeThe Mill Station post office closes
  5. 1870Post officeThe Elk Lake post office opens
  6. 1871Post officeThe Elk Lake post office closes
  7. 1887Post officeThe Pool post office closes
  8. 1893In the archiveAtlas and directory of Lapeer County, Michigan
  9. 20th century
  10. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Attica Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s4 items
Atlas and directory of Lapeer County, Michigan1893Atlas and directory of Lapeer County, MichiganMapAtlas and directory of Lapeer County, Michigan1893Atlas and directory of Lapeer County, MichiganMapAtlas and directory of Lapeer County, Michigan1893Atlas and directory of Lapeer County, MichiganMapAtlas and directory of Lapeer County, Michigan1893Atlas and directory of Lapeer County, MichiganMap
1900s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Attica, Michigan location2023Attica, Michigan location
On the map

Attica Township on the map, 1963 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Attica Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Attica Township on the 1963 USGS mapAttica Township on the 1984 USGS mapAttica Township on the 1990 USGS map1963Attica 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 Attica Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Attica Township

Nobody well known was born in Attica Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bob BurmanAmerican racing driver · b. 1884
Carl PursellAmerican politician · b. 1932
George Owen SquierUnited States Army general · b. 1865
James Paul ChurchillUnited States federal judge · b. 1924
Al DorowAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1929
Louis C. CramtonAmerican politician · b. 1875
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Imlay TownshipIts storyCDryden Township2 historic placesA−Lapeer TownshipIts storyC+Arcadia TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Attica Township’s history

What year was Attica Township founded?

The Attica Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Attica Township rank for history?

Attica Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #383 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 Attica Township?

26% of Attica Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1976.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (5), 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.