Bangor Township dates to 1851, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #459 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Bangor Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Its Register listing is the Saginaw River Light Station. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1990.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1864.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bangor Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bangor Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #459 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bangor 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 Bangor Township’s 0.7 sits above most of its state (65% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1851.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Bangor Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Banks
1864–1891
Bayside
1899–1910
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Aplin BeachBangorBrentwood Estates Mobile Home ParkDonahue BeachKillarney BeachLagoon BeachLittle Killarney BeachOakbrook Mobile Home ParkShady Rest Mobile PlazaTobico BeachWenona Beach Estates Mobile Home ParkWillow Tree Village Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Banks Post Officepost officeBanks StationlocaleBayside Post Officepost officeOa-At-Ka Beach StationlocaleWenona Beach Stationlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Bangor Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bangor Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bangor Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Bay City sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bangor Township.
Joseph Trombley in 1834 purchased Bangor township's section 16 from the government which was the beginning of the Bangor settlement. Bangor was platted in 1851 and was renamed Banks in 1864. In 1871, Banks became an incorporated village while Wenona was platted. In 1873, the Township consisted of about 10 sections. The community of Bangor in 1873 was served by the Banks Post Office which opened on May 18, 1864. The Banks Post Office was closed on May 1, 1866. On Nov 17, 1870, the Banks Post Office was reopened. By 1873, Wenona was served by a post office with the same name. The City of West Bay City, also known as West Bank City, was formed in 1877 by the state legislature consolidating the communities of Banks, Salzburg, and Wenona. Bay Side was a coal mining village in Bangor Township established in 1899.
In 1851, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bangor Township’s post office opened in 1864, and the census of 1990 counted 16,028 people here.
How does Bangor Township rank for history?
Bangor Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #459 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.
What is on the National Register in Bangor Township?
One place: the Saginaw River Light Station (listed 1984).
How old are the homes in Bangor Township?
7% of Bangor Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.
