Photo: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth". · Public domain
Quick answers
How Bois Blanc Township began
When was Bois Blanc Township founded?
1884
The Bois Blanc Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Boisblanc (1884), Walkers Point (1899) and Point Catosh (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 225 in 19002020 census: 100142 years
Founding year: the first Bois Blanc Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Bois Blanc Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bois Blanc Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Boisblanc
1884–1911
Pointe Aux Pins
1889–today
Walkers Point
1899–1922
Point Catosh
1904–1905
Sand Bay
1909–1919
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Pointe Aux Pins
Gone or out of use
Boisblanc Post Officepost officePoint Catosh Post Officepost officePointe Aux Pins Post Officepost officeSand Bay Post Officepost officeWalkers Point Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bois Blanc Township
McRaeMcRaeOlive Church Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
"Bois Blanc" is French for "white wood". The name is commonly thought to be a reference to either: (a) the paper birch, or more likely (b) the basswood, called "bois blanc" in other contexts. The basswood's white underbark was extensively used by Native Americans and French-speaking fur traders for cordage, including the sewing up of canoes and the manufacture of webbing for snowshoes. Bois Blanc is in the traditional lands of the Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bois Blanc Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1964McRae Bay 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 Bois Blanc Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Bois Blanc Township
Nobody well known was born in Bois Blanc Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
