Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #659 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Brooks Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1958 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brooks Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #659 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold 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 Brooks 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: 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 →
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 Brooks Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Brooks Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Brooks Township is a civil township of Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 3,705.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,510 to 3,705 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Brooks Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
It was organized under that name in 1851, at the same time with Brooks Township, and then included the eastern half of the county. It was cut down to form Big Prairie, Ensley and other townships, until it contained but a township and a half. It remained of this size until 1880, when half a township became a part of Brooks Township, and Croton was reduced to its present limits.
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.
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 Brooks 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 Brooks Township.
Nobody well known was born in Brooks Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Brooks Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #659 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.
4% of Brooks Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
