The story
Read it all →How Burlington Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Burlington Township.
Burlington was platted in 1842 and incorporated as a village in 1869.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Burlington Township
Burlington Township’s post office opened in 1838, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1880.
1838first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Burlington Township began
When was Burlington Township founded?
1838
The Burlington Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1842. Another post office, Abscota (1838), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 328 in 18802020 census: 1,957188 years
How historic is Burlington Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Burlington Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1842.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Burlington Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burlington Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Burlington Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1838, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194022.9% of homes (±5.5) · 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 66%
NewerOlder
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 Burlington 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 (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1842 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 →
What stands out about Burlington 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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 405 in 2000; 281 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1950. Watch Burlington Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Burlington Township.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Burlington Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burlington Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Burlington Township, census by census
Peaked at 405 in 2000; 281 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burlington Township’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Burlington Township on the map, 1918 to 1950
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Burlington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Union City sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Burlington Township.
Timeline
Burlington Township, 1838 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1838Post officeThe Abscota post office opens
- 1838Post officeThe Burlington post office opens
- 20th century
- 1900Post officeThe Abscota post office closes
- 1918
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1986
In the archiveFred's Barber Shop - 21st century
- 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 405
By decade
Burlington Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1980s2 items
19861990snothing 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 albumThen & 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.
Retake this viewFred's Barber Shop, 1986
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Burlington Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Burlington Township
Nobody well known was born in Burlington Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
J
Jason NewstedAmerican musician · b. 1963
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Abscota, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Abscota
Burlington
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burlington
Gone or out of use
Abscota Post Officepost officeBurlington StationlocaleSmiths Landing Stripairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burlington Township
AbscotaBarringtonBurlington TownshipRiverside
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.
Questions about Burlington Township’s history
What year was Burlington Township founded?
The Burlington Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1842.
How does Burlington Township rank for history?
Burlington Township is more historic than 66% 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 Burlington Township?
23% of Burlington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1976.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.