Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #52 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Richardson Silk Mill, the Belding, Alvah N., Memorial Library and the Pere Marquette Railway Belding Depot. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
Belding dates its founding to 1838 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belding is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #52 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Belding’s 5.0 sits above most of its state (76% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belding’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1900Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereClay Tallman is born here
Born hereCarleton W. Angell is born here
In the archivePortrait of Milo Merrick Belding (1833–1917) from America's Successful Men of Affairs - T…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Belding.
In 1838, six years before John Green came to the area that later would bear his name, Levi Broas, Belding's first settler, arrived in the area. The community first was known as Broas Rapids, later Patterson Mills and even, during logging days, as Hog Wallow. The name Belding was chosen in 1871 to honor the Belding family.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Belding, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The real purpose for the establishment of this company was to promote the growth and welfare of the city of Belding. At this point it niigbt be well to give the history of the Belding hotel, for although it was built the year jjrior to the organization of the Belding Land and Improvement Company, it became part of the holdings of that company after its organization, in 1888 Belding Brothers began negotiations for the erection of a hotel, and Claire Allen, architect, of Jackson, was secured to draw the plans. Work was pushed forward and in a short time the building was completed. At the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The following shows the dates of incorporation of the cities and villages of Ionia county, and their population in 1904. Belding, 3,654; incorporated as a town in 1893 (never incorporated as a village). Tonia, 5.222; incorporated as a village in 1865, as a city in 1873. Hubbardston (in Ionia
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belding. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Belding.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Belding’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 562 and 5,969 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Belding’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Belding’s post office has been open since 1871. Another post office, Patterson's Mills, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1838, according to Wikidata. Belding’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 562 people here.
Belding is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #52 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.
Three places: the Richardson Silk Mill (listed 1985), the Belding, Alvah N., Memorial Library (1993) and the Pere Marquette Railway Belding Depot (1997).
39% of Belding’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1956.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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