Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Austin Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Austin Township

Austin Township dates to 1851, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1963 on.

1851founded
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Austin Township began

When was Austin Township founded?

1851

Austin Township dates its founding to 1851 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1862.

2020 census: 619175 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1862.

What stands out about Austin 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 writtenNo old photos of Austin Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Austin Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Austin Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Austin 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.

Tyre
1862–1964
Cumber
1874–1915
Freiburgers
1888–1906
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Austin CenterCumberFreidbergerTyre
Gone or out of use
Cumber Post Officepost officeFreiburgers Post Officepost officeTyre Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Austin Township
Mount PleasantSaint Joseph and Saint Ignatius'

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

The story so far

Austin Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Austin Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Austin Township is a civil township of Sanilac County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township had a total population 619. The township was organized in 1851.

Austin Township was established in 1851. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 665 to 619 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Austin Township, 1851 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851
    FoundingAustin Township is established
  3. 1862Post officeThe Tyre post office opens
  4. 1874Post officeThe Cumber post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Freiburgers post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906Post officeThe Freiburgers post office closes
  8. 1915Post officeThe Cumber post office closes
  9. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1964Post officeThe Tyre post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Austin Township on the map, 1963 to 1984

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

Austin Township on the 1963 USGS mapAustin Township on the 1984 USGS map1963Ubly 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 Austin Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Austin Township

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

See all →
Brewster H. ShawAmerican astronaut · b. 1945
James BrookerAmerican pole vaulter · b. 1902
Helen Thompson GaigeAmerican herpetologist · b. 1890
J
Jon HorstAmerican basketball player · b. 1983
Larry MacPhailAmerican lawyer · b. 1890
David C. ClarkAmerican politician · b. 1926
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Argyle TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreenleaf TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMinden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBingham TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Austin Township’s history

What year was Austin Township founded?

In 1851, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Austin Township’s post office opened in 1862.

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 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.