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History · Burt Township

16% of Burt Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Au Sable Light Station, the Pickle Barrel House and the Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights. Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1960.

3on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Burt 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 writtenNo old photos of Burt Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Burt Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Burt Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Youngs, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Grand Marais
1885–today
Youngs
1899–1901
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grand MaraisGreen HavenSullivans LandingSunrise Landing
Gone or out of use
Grand Marais Air Force StationmilitaryGrand Marais StationlocaleYoungs Post Officepost officeYoungs Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burt Township
Bird GraveHoly Rosary CatholicRose Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Burt Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Burt Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Burt Township is a civil township of Alger County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, its population was 411. The township contains the community of Grand Marais, which contains numerous historic structures, including the Pickle Barrel House and the Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights. The township is also the eastern gateway to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and includes the Au Sable Light on the shores of Lake Superior.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 522 to 411 (-21%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Burt Township, 1874 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874BuiltAu Sable Light Station is built
  3. 1885Post officeThe Grand Marais post office opens
  4. 1895BuiltGrand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights is built
  5. 1899Post officeThe Youngs post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Post officeThe Youngs post office closes
  8. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Burt Township on the map, 1966 to 1984

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

Burt Township on the 1966 USGS mapBurt Township on the 1984 USGS map1966Au Sable Point SE sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

3 historic places in Burt Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Au Sable Light Station
Au Sable Light Station, built 1874Pickle Barrel HouseGrand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights, built 1895
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Lighthouse1
Pickle Barrel House1
Steel Skeletal Tower Lighthouse1
Au Sable Light StationLighthouse · Built 1874
Pickle Barrel HousePickle Barrel House
Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer LightsSteel Skeletal Tower Lighthouse · Built 1895

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Burt Township, census by census

0100200300400500600196019802000Peak: 539

Between 424 and 539 people in every census since 1960.

6 censuses, 1960–2010.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Burt Township

Nobody well known was born in Burt Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
L
Len St. JeanPlayer of American football · b. 1941
F. Robert EdwardsAmerican politician · b. 1940
Martin R. BradleyAmerican politician · b. 1888
R
Rob RubickPlayer of American football · b. 1960
J
John MillerAmerican author (20th century)
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

McMillan Township1 historic placeA−Seney TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMunising TownshipIts storyDHiawatha TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Burt Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Burt Township?

Three places: the Au Sable Light Station (listed 1978), the Pickle Barrel House (2004) and the Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights (2012).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.