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History · Bangor Township

Bangor Township dates to 1854, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1880.

1854founded
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bangor Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bangor Township began

When was Bangor Township founded?

1854

Bangor Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,102 in 18802020 census: 1,939172 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1872.

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.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bangor Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · 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
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAmerican Freedom Train 1976: 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

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

McDonald
1872–1954
Toquin
1889–1905
Wood
1892–1893
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
McDonaldToquinWest Bangor
Gone or out of use
McDonald Post Officepost officeMcDonald StationlocaleToquin Post Officepost officeToquin Stationlocale
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bangor Township
SouthardTaylorThomasVan Auken

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

The story so far

Bangor Township, in brief

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

Bangor is a city in Van Buren County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Bangor had a population of 2,016. The city is located in the northeast corner of Bangor Township, but is politically independent. It was first organized as a town in 1854 and named after Bangor, Maine.

Bangor Township was established in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,147 to 1,939 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Bangor Township, 1854 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854
    FoundingBangor Township is established
  3. 1872Post officeThe McDonald post office opens
  4. 1889Post officeThe Toquin post office opens
  5. 1892Post officeThe Wood post office opens
  6. 1893Post officeThe Wood post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1905Post officeThe Toquin post office closes
  9. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1954Post officeThe McDonald post office closes
  11. 1976In the archiveAmerican Freedom Train 1976
By decade

Bangor Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
American Freedom Train 19761976American Freedom Train 1976
1980s–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
Sacred Heart-Bangor2021Sacred Heart-BangorBangor Elevator2012Bangor ElevatorRibbon cutting ceremony for new Marrone Bio Innovation manufacturing facility in Bangor2011Ribbon cutting ceremony for new Marrone Bio Innovatio…
On the map

Bangor Township on the map, 1927 to 1981

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

Bangor Township on the 1927 USGS mapBangor Township on the 1931 USGS mapBangor Township on the 1943 USGS mapBangor Township on the 1981 USGS map1927Bangor 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.

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.

American Freedom Train 1976
Retake this viewAmerican Freedom Train 1976, 1976

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bangor Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,109

Between 904 and 2,109 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bangor Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bangor1 historic placeB+Geneva TownshipIts storyC+Arlington TownshipIts storyCHartford TownshipIts storyC+Covert TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Bangor Township’s history

What year was Bangor Township founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bangor Township’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1880 counted 1,102 people here.

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), Wikidata (1), 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.