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CHistory
History · Belvidere Township

Belvidere Township dates to 1867, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1870.

1867founded
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Belvidere Township began

When was Belvidere Township founded?

1867

Belvidere Township dates its founding to 1867 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 54 in 18702020 census: 2,135159 years

How historic is Belvidere Township?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1878.
History grade

What drives Belvidere Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belvidere Township is more historic than 33% 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 Belvidere Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1867, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.3% of homes (±4.4) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder

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 Belvidere 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 (±4.4 points). Two sources give 1867.

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 Belvidere 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 Belvidere Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Belvidere Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belvidere Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belvidere Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
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.

Six Lakes
1878–today
Belvidere
1880–1887
Sixlakes
1894–1963
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Six Lakes
Gone or out of use
Belvidere Post Officepost officeSix Lakes Gas FieldoilfieldSix Lakes Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Belvidere Township
EvergreenHillcrest

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

The story so far

Belvidere Township, in brief

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

Belvidere Township is a civil township of Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,135.

Belvidere Township was established in 1867. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,209 to 2,135 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Belvidere Township, 1867 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867
    FoundingBelvidere Township is established
  3. 1878Post officeThe Six Lakes post office opens
  4. 1880Post officeThe Belvidere post office opens
  5. 1887Post officeThe Belvidere post office closes
  6. 1894Post officeThe Sixlakes post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1963Post officeThe Sixlakes post office closes
  9. 1964On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Belvidere Township on the map, 1964 to 1985

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

Belvidere Township on the 1964 USGS mapBelvidere Township on the 1985 USGS map1964Six Lakes 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 Belvidere Township.

People over time

Belvidere Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,438

Between 54 and 2,438 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Belvidere Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Home TownshipIts storyC+Cato TownshipIts storyC+Douglass TownshipIts storyC−Millbrook TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Belvidere Township’s history

What year was Belvidere Township founded?

In 1867, according to Wikidata. Belvidere Township’s post office opened in 1878, and the census of 1870 counted 54 people here.

How does Belvidere Township rank for history?

Belvidere Township is more historic than 33% 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 Belvidere Township?

12% of Belvidere Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1974.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

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.