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History · Bay Port

Bay Port’s post office opened in 1872, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1904 on.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bay Port’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bay Port began

When was Bay Port founded?

1872

The Bay Port post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 464154 years
Founding year: the first Bay Port post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bay Port’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Bay Port’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bay Port’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bay Port’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBay Port Commercial Fishing Historic Di…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Bay Port came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bay Port.

Read it all →

Bay Port was settled in 1851 by Carl H. Heisterman. It was first named "Geneva" and later "Wild Fowl Port". The post office was relocated here from Ora Labora in 1872.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bay Port, 1904 to 1976

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904In the archiveMap of Bayport, Michigan (1904)
  3. 1909Born hereSanford Brown is born here
  4. 1969Born hereTom E. Beer is born here
  5. 1976In the archiveBay Port Commercial Fishing Historic District 1974
By decade

Bay Port, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Map of Bayport, Michigan (1904)1904Map of Bayport, Michigan (1904)Map
1910s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
Bay Port Commercial Fishing Historic District 19741976Bay Port Commercial Fishing Historic District 1974
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
Date unknown1 to date
Bay Port, MI locationDate?Bay Port, MI location
Today2 recent
Bay Port, Michigan along M-252019Bay Port, Michigan along M-25Bay Port, MI road signage2019Bay Port, MI road signage
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.

Bay Port Commercial Fishing Historic District 1974
Retake this viewBay Port Commercial Fishing Historic District 1974, 1976

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 5 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Bay Port

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
T
Tom E. BeerAmerican football player · b. 1969
Sanford BrownMichigan politician · b. 1909
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Fairhaven Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Bay Port’s history

What year was Bay Port founded?

The Bay Port post office opened in 1872, 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 →
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 (5), Wikipedia and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.