Most of Au Train Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listings are the Bay Furnace, the Paulson House and the M-94 (old)-Au Train River Bridge.
The Au Train Township post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Autrain (1894), Coalwood (1906) and Forest Lake (1915), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,019141 years
How historic is Au Train Township?
B−
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Au Train Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Au Train Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Au Train Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Au Train 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 Au Train Township’s 25.8 sits above most of its state (87% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±3.0 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 Au Train Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Forest Lake village was founded by the Cleveland Cliffs Company in 1890 and first called "Dixon". At Coalwood, a post office opened on September 21, 1906. On July 15, 1910, the Coalwood Post Office closed. The Dixon post office was established in May 1915 and was renamed to and possibly moved to Forest Lake in November 1921. The Forest Lake Post Office was discontinued in 1984.
The Au Train Township post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Au Train Township rank for history?
Au Train Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. 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 Au Train Township?
Three places: the Bay Furnace (listed 1971), the Paulson House (1972) and the M-94 (old)-Au Train River Bridge (1999).
How old are the homes in Au Train Township?
7% of Au Train Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
