Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Branch Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1931 on and old-book passages.
The Branch Township post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Branch (1876), Tallman (1880) and Manistee Junction (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Branch Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Branch 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Branch Township’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Branch Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sweetwater Township is a civil township of Lake County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 258 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1876. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,328 to 1,405 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Branch Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Branch Township was erected by an act of Legislature of the session of 1871, and comprises the territory of Townships 17 and 18 north of Range 15 west, in the county of Mason. Henry Flynn, Charles T. Carr and William Wellers were appointed inspectors of the first election held in the township.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Branch Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Branch Township.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Branch Township post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Branch Township is more historic than 22% 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.
5% of Branch Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1979.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
