Half of Bedford Township’s homes were built after 1981
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #585 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Bedford Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1850.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bedford Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #585 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bedford 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 Bedford 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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Bedford Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
West Erie
1834–1836
Lambertville
1836–today
Little Lake
1873–1879
Samaria
1879–today
Temperance
1884–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Inverness Mobile Home CommunityLambertvilleLiberty CornersNorthtown Meadows Mobile Home ParkOakwood Mobile Home CommunitySamariaTemperance
Gone or out of use
Lambertville StationlocaleLittle Lake Post Officepost office
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bedford Township
Bedford MemorialHitchcockHungerfordLambertvilleOur Lady of Mount CarmelSaint AnthonysWeeksWhiteford Union
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Bedford Township on the map, 1912 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bedford Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1912Dundee 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 Bedford Township.
The story so far
Bedford Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bedford Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bedford Township is a civil township of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 31,813. Bedford Township was organized in 1836. Sharing a southern border with the city of Toledo, Ohio, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of the city of Detroit, the township is one of the southernmost areas included in the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area (Metro Detroit). Bedford Township is the most populous municipality in Monroe County and the second most populous civil township in the state of Michigan after Macomb Township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 31,085 to 31,813 (+2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Bedford Township, 1834 to 1912
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Bedford Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #585 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Bedford Township?
9% of Bedford Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 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.
