Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1834.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Brooklyn’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brooklyn is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brooklyn’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 Brooklyn’s 16.9 sits above most of its state (86% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points). Two sources give 1832.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Brooklyn’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The village was founded by Calvin Swain, who filed the first land claim on June 16, 1832, and named his settlement Swainsville. In a town meeting vote on August 5, 1836, the community elected to change the town's name to Brooklyn. The town is named after Brooklyn, New York.
The area has historically been a summer vacation spot for residents of metropolitan Detroit who owned cottages near lakes in the area.
The Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant opened in 1939. It made parts for B-24 bombers during World War II. Then, after the war, it made components for Ford cars and trucks through 1966, when the plant was closed.
The Michigan International Speedway opened in 1968. It is used primarily for NASCAR events.
Passages that mention Brooklyn, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Jackson County, Michigan1881 · page 823Read the page →
Read the text
native town, and after leaving school accpiired his trade, that of a shoemaker, which occupation he followed first in Vermont and for several years after coming to Michigan. His advent to this State took place in 1835, and he first settled in the village of Brooklyn, and occupied as a shop the second floor of the building now owned and used by "W. B. Sherman as a general store. He was soon tendered an opportunity of entering" the Michigan State's Prison as foreman of the boot and shoe manufacturing department, which he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Jackson County, Michigan1881 · page 783Read the page →
Read the text
southeast quarter of section 24 for s2oo. and had the same surveyed and platted for a village by A. II. De Lamater; soon after, a meeting was called, and the name of Swainsville was changed to the village of Brooklyn. He bought other landed property and engaged in farming, in addition to his mercantile establishment, and his varied business and capital undoubtedly fixed the location of his business in the village of his choice as the center of a large trade.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brooklyn. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Grand Rapids sheet · 1:250,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brooklyn.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Brooklyn
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Brooklyn, census by census
Grew from 334 people in 1860 to 1,313 in 2020, 3 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brooklyn’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Brooklyn’s history
What year was Brooklyn founded?
In 1832, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Brooklyn’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1860 counted 334 people here.
How does Brooklyn rank for history?
Brooklyn is more historic than 89% 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.
How old are the homes in Brooklyn?
28% of Brooklyn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (22), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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