On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Blair Township is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #679 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Blair 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 Blair 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 points).
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 Blair 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
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Beitner
1880–1883
Keystone
1883–1894
Grawn
1890–today
Beitner
1893–1895
Slights
1893–1898
Keystone
1898–1908
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Chums CornerGrawnHilltopSilver Shores Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Beitner Post Officepost officeBeitner StationlocaleKeystone Post Officepost officeKeystone StationlocaleSlights Post Officepost officeSlights Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Blair Township
Maple GroveMonroe Center
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Blair Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blair Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The territory of Blair Township has historically been part of territory under the Council of Three Fires (Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi).
In 1853, Traverse Township was organized, and comprised all of Grand Traverse County excluding the Old Mission Peninsula. In April 1867, Blair Township was organized from the section of Traverse Township at 26 north, range 11 west. The township is named for Austin Blair, who served as Governor of Michigan during the American Civil War.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Blair Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Kingsley 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 Blair Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Blair Township
Nobody well known was born in Blair Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Blair Township is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #679 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 Blair Township?
3% of Blair Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.
2018
