The story
Read it all →How Berlin Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Berlin Township.
Berlin Township was organized in 1839 with Alonzo Sessions as the first supervisor.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Berlin Township
Berlin Township’s post office opened in 1842, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Sessions Schoolhouse. Below: maps from 1916 on.
1842first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Berlin Township began
When was Berlin Township founded?
1842
The Berlin Township post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Cass (1840), Berlin (1842) and New Berlin (1855), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,138184 years
How historic is Berlin Township?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Berlin Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Berlin Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Berlin Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Berlin Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1842, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194019.7% of homes (±6.0) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 5.5 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
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 Berlin Township’s 5.5 sits above most of its state (77% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Berlin 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 Berlin Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Berlin Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1978. Watch Berlin Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Berlin Township.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Berlin Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Berlin Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cass
Berlin
New Berlin
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Berlin Center
Gone or out of use
New Berlin Post Officepost officePossehn Gravel PitmineTuttle Road Pitmine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Berlin Township
AldermanBalcomLetts
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Berlin Township on the map, 1916 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Berlin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Ionia sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Berlin Township.
Timeline
Berlin Township, 1840 to 1916
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1840Post officeThe Cass post office opens
- 1842Post officeThe Cass post office closes
- 1842Post officeThe Berlin post office opens
- 1842Post officeThe Berlin post office closes
- 1855Post officeThe New Berlin post office opens
- 1858Post officeThe New Berlin post office closes
- 1860Born hereWalt Walker is born here
- 20th century
- 1916
On 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 albumOn the National Register
1 historic place in Berlin Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Sessions Schoolhouse
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Berlin Township’s history
What year was Berlin Township founded?
The Berlin Township post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Berlin Township rank for history?
Berlin Township is more historic than 81% 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.
What is on the National Register in Berlin Township?
One place: the Sessions Schoolhouse (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Berlin Township?
20% of Berlin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1973.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.