Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #301 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Brandon Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listing is the Ortonville Mill. Below: maps from 1943 on.
The Brandon Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Brandon (1843), Campbell's Corners (1847) and Oakwood (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brandon Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #301 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Brandon Township’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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.
Five 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brandon Township’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereBird J. Vincent is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Brandon Township.
The Township of Brandon was created in 1837, named in honor of the settlers of the Town of Brandon, Vermont, whose descendants had migrated to this area of Michigan. The Charter Township of Brandon was formed in the 20th century.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings 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 Brandon 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 Brandon Township.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Brandon Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Brandon Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #301 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.
One place: the Ortonville Mill (listed 1971).
5% of Brandon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 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.
