Most of Baldwin was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Baldwin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Baldwin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Baldwin is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Baldwin’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 Baldwin’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 (±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 Baldwin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 1,208 in 2010; 902 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Baldwin’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Baldwin, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Baldwin yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Baldwin is a village in and county seat of Lake County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 863 at the 2020 census. The village is mostly located in Pleasant Plains Township with a smaller portion extending north into Webber Township
Its first post office opened in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,208 to 902 (-25%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
The Baldwin post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Baldwin rank for history?
Baldwin is more historic than 21% 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.
How old are the homes in Baldwin?
4% of Baldwin’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 1976.
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 (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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