Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Buchanan Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Buchanan Township

Buchanan Township dates to 1842, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #266 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1870.

1842founded
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Buchanan Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Buchanan Township began

When was Buchanan Township founded?

1842

Buchanan Township dates its founding to 1842 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 1,702 in 18702020 census: 3,436184 years

How historic is Buchanan Township?

B

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Buchanan Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buchanan Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #266 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Buchanan Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1842, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194018.4% of homes (±7.6) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 61%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 62%

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 Buchanan 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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points). Two sources give 1842.

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 Buchanan Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1842: 184 years of Buchanan Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Buchanan Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buchanan Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewClark Equipment Co: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Buchanan Township, 1842 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1842
    FoundingBuchanan Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1940In the archiveClark Equipment Co
  6. 1990In the archiveAmtrak train crossing Lake Topinabee, March 1990
The story

How Buchanan Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Buchanan Township.

Read it all →

The community was named after James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States. Popularly known as "Redbud City" because of the many redbud trees that have historically lined city streets and the major approaches to the city, Buchanan has long been recognized as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

The area, already having been populated by Native Americans in places such as the Moccasin Bluff site, was first settled in 1833 at the spot where McCoy Creek meets the St. Joseph River. The village of Buchanan was platted in 1842 and incorporated in 1858.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Buchanan Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Clark Equipment Co1940Clark Equipment Co
1950s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s2 items
Amtrak train crossing Lake Topinabee, March 19901990Amtrak train crossing Lake Topinabee, March 1990Amtrak train rounding the curve at Buchanan, February 19901990Amtrak train rounding the curve at Buchanan, February…
Today8 recent
Historic area P82100052010Historic area P8210005Historic area P82100042010Historic area P8210004Historic area P82100032010Historic area P8210003Historic area P82100022010Historic area P8210002Historic area P82100012010Historic area P8210001Farmers Market P82100072010Farmers Market P8210007Farmers Market P82100062010Farmers Market P8210006Buchanan North and West Historic District Map2001Buchanan North and West Historic District MapMap
On the map

Buchanan Township on the map, 1927 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buchanan Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Buchanan Township on the 1927 USGS mapBuchanan Township on the 1930 USGS mapBuchanan Township on the 1943 USGS mapBuchanan Township on the 1971 USGS map1927Niles sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Buchanan Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Clark Equipment Co
Retake this viewClark Equipment Co, 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Buchanan Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Buchanan Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,341

Between 1,702 and 5,341 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buchanan Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Hill's Haven Mobile Home ParkRiverside Mobile Home Estates
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Buchanan Township
BakertownBentonColvinSherwoodStevens Farm

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Oronoko Township2 historic placesA−Bertrand TownshipIts storyC+Niles TownshipIts storyB−Weesaw Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Buchanan Township’s history

What year was Buchanan Township founded?

In 1842, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1870 counted 1,702 people here.

How does Buchanan Township rank for history?

Buchanan Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #266 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.

How old are the homes in Buchanan Township?

18% of Buchanan Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1974.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (11), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.