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History · Barton Township

Barton Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

1869first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Barton Township began

When was Barton Township founded?

1869

The Barton Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Cook's Station (1868), Barton (1869) and Hawkins (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 706157 years
Founding year: the first Barton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Barton 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 Barton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Barton Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barton 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.

Cook's Station
1868–1874
Barton
1869–1871
Hawkins
1889–1906
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hawkins
Gone or out of use
Cook's Station Post Officepost officeHawkins Post Officepost officeHome Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Barton Township
Barton Township

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

The story so far

Barton Township, in brief

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

Barton Township is a civil township of Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 706.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 717 in 2010, 706 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Barton Township, 1868 to 1906

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Cook's Station post office opens
  3. 1869Post officeThe Barton post office opens
  4. 1871Post officeThe Barton post office closes
  5. 1874Post officeThe Cook's Station post office closes
  6. 1889Post officeThe Hawkins post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1906Post officeThe Hawkins 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
Famous people

Famous people close to Barton Township

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

See all →
Thomas D. SchallAmerican lawyer and politician · b. 1878
Ben Hebard FullerUnited States Marine Corps Commandant · b. 1870
Chris GoreAmerican film critic · b. 1965
Clint HurdleAmerican baseball player and manager · b. 1957
H
Harold CronkAmerican film director and producer · b. 1974
Daisy TapleyOpera singer · b. 1882
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Home TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorwich TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChase TownshipIts storyB−Green TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Barton Township’s history

What year was Barton Township founded?

The Barton Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.