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–Not graded
History · Au Sable Township

Half of Au Sable Township’s homes were built after 1987

Most of Au Sable Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1965 on.

0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Au Sable Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

Where Au Sable Township’s name came from

How did Au Sable Township get its name?

Au Sable Township was named after the southern branch of the Au Sable River, which flows through the township.

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Au Sable 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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Au Sable Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Au Sable Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEnchanted Forest sign: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

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

Herbert
1902–1910
Keno
1910–1925
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Keno
Gone or out of use
Keno Post Officepost officeSaint Helen Oil Fieldoilfield
1cemetery inside Au Sable Township
Richfield

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

The story

How Au Sable Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Au Sable Township.

Read it all →

Au Sable Township was established in 1947 from the northern 36-square-mile (93.2 km2) survey township area of Richfield Township. It was named after the southern branch of the Au Sable River, which flows through the township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Au Sable Township, 1902 to 1988

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Herbert post office opens
  3. 1910Post officeThe Herbert post office closes
  4. 1910Post officeThe Keno post office opens
  5. 1925Post officeThe Keno post office closes
  6. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1988In the archiveEnchanted Forest sign
By decade

Au Sable Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Enchanted Forest sign1988Enchanted Forest sign
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
Today3 recent
Au Sable Township Hall (Roscommon County, MI)2019Au Sable Township Hall (Roscommon County, MI)Au Sable Township (Roscommon), MI location2019Au Sable Township (Roscommon), MI locationAuSableTownshipRoscommonMI2009AuSableTownshipRoscommonMI
On the map

Au Sable Township on the map, 1965 to 1983

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

Au Sable Township on the 1965 USGS mapAu Sable Township on the 1983 USGS map1965St Helen NW 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 Au Sable Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Enchanted Forest sign
Retake this viewEnchanted Forest sign, 1988

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Au Sable Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

South Branch TownshipIts storyC−Higgins TownshipIts storyDRichfield TownshipIts storyDFoster TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Au Sable Township’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.