The Bear Lake Township post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bearlake (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 236 in 18802020 census: 1,831161 years
How historic is Bear Lake Township?
C+
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bear Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bear Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bear Lake Township is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bear Lake 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 Bear Lake Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Bear Lake Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1836, individuals from various tribes of native people signed the Treaty of Washington, which ceded the northwest portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan to the United States. At the time, native people lived in the Bear Lake area, evidence remaining in various burial mounds of the region, including one at Pierport.
In 1841, John Stronach and party came to the Manistee area and started a lumber mill. During the following twenty years, the city of Manistee grew as virgin forests were cut, and the logs put into the Manistee rivers to float to the mills on Manistee Lake.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bear Lake Township.
1956Onekama 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 Bear Lake Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Bear Lake Township post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bear Lake Township rank for history?
Bear Lake Township is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Bear Lake Township?
14% of Bear Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 Wikimedia Commons (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.
2005