Most of Beaverton Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1902.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Beaverton Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beaverton Township is more historic than 27% 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 Beaverton 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 Beaverton 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 still be C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points). Two sources give 1863.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Beaverton Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Beaverton was first settled by lumbermen circa 1863 and was first known as Grand Forks, after the confluence of the Tobacco and Cedar rivers. It has been continuously settled since 1875. The town was founded in 1890 by the Donald Gunn Ross & Sons lumber company, from Beaverton, Ontario. Donald Ross became the first postmaster on February 17, 1891. Beaverton incorporated as a village on January 9, 1896 and as a city in 1903, with William Ross as the first mayor. Powers gives the first settler's name as Marvil Secord, originally from Brantford, Ontario, and who is also recognized as the first permanent settler in Gladwin County. Beaverton is known as the Plastic Thermoforming capital of the world. It was a station on the Toledo-Ludington line of the Pere Marquette Railroad.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beaverton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1969Coleman 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 Beaverton Township.
People over time
Beaverton Township, census by census
Between 418 and 1,150 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Beaverton Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1863, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Beaverton Township’s post office opened in 1902, and the census of 1910 counted 418 people here.
How does Beaverton Township rank for history?
Beaverton Township is more historic than 27% 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 Beaverton Township?
8% of Beaverton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (6), 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.
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