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History · Bear Lake Township

Half of Bear Lake Township’s homes were built after 1980

Most of Bear Lake Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1949 on.

0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Bear Lake 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 Bear Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bear Lake Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bear Lake Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Bear Lake Township, in brief

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

Bear Lake Township is a civil township of Kalkaska County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 668.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 667 in 2010, 668 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Bear Lake Township, 1901 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Dowen post office opens
  3. 1904Post officeThe Dowen post office closes
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Bear Lake Township on the map, 1949 to 1978

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

Bear Lake Township on the 1949 USGS mapBear Lake Township on the 1978 USGS map1949Black Creek sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bear Lake Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bear Lake Township

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

See all →
Jim HarrisonAmerican poet, novelist, and essayist · b. 1937
Luke JensenUS tennis player · b. 1966
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Norman Z. McLeodAmerican film director · b. 1895
E
Emil FriskProfessional baseball player · b. 1874
Ralph OstlingAmerican politician · b. 1927
S
Steven DammanUnsolved 1955 disappearance of American boy · b. 1950
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Dowen, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Pemberthy Crossing
Gone or out of use
Dowen Post Officepost office

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Frederic TownshipIts storyC−Grayling Township1 historic placeC+Oliver TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlue Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townExcelsior TownshipIts storyC−Garfield TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Bear Lake Township’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.