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History · Belknap Township

25% of Belknap Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on.

0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Belknap 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 Belknap Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Belknap Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Belknap Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belknap Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belknap 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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hagensville
1886–1912
Hawks
1896–today
Nagel
1904–1905
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BelknapHagensville
Gone or out of use
Hagensville Post Officepost officeNagel Post Officepost office
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Belknap Township
Belknap TownshipFaithHopeMount CalvarySaint John's Hagenville LutheranSaint Michael's Lutheran

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

The story so far

Belknap Township, in brief

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

Belknap Township is a civil township of Presque Isle County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 686. The unincorporated community of Hagensville is located in the township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 751 to 686 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Belknap Township, 1886 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Hagensville post office opens
  3. 1896Post officeThe Hawks post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Nagel post office opens
  6. 1905Post officeThe Nagel post office closes
  7. 1912Post officeThe Hagensville post office closes
  8. 1971On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Belknap Township on the map, 1971 to 1984

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

Belknap Township on the 1971 USGS mapBelknap Township on the 1984 USGS map1971Metz 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 Belknap Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Belknap Township

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

See all →
Michael Bailey SmithAmerican actor · b. 1957
S
Stanley GrenzAmerican theologian · b. 1950
Lucille F. StickelAmerican wildlife toxicologist · b. 1915
Donald B. DuncanUnited States admiral · b. 1896
William ComstockAmerican politician · b. 1877
Frank D. ScottAmerican politician · b. 1878
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rogers Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBismarck TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPulawski TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMetz TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Belknap 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.