Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #140 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
Cadillac dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cadillac is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #140 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Cadillac’s 10.5 sits above most of its state (83% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 11Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Cadillac.
European explorers and fur traders visited this area from the 18th century, most of them initially French and French-Canadians who traded with regional Native Americans. More permanent communities were not established until the late 19th century. Initial settlements developed from logging camps and the logging industry.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Cadillac, cut from the printed page as they were published.
of Clam Lake was platted in July, 1872, since wdiich time there have been many additions and subdivisions platted until now the city of Cadillac, a name adopted when the village became a city, covers nearly ten times as much territory as did the orignal plat.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in the east and in the spring of 1872 arrived in Wexford county, Michigan, first going to the village of Clam Lake, which is now the city of Cadillac and the county seat. He began earning his livelihood here liy working on the railroad and was thus employed for several months. 1 le afterwards worked in saw-mills f(jr about a year, and at the end
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cadillac brought three horses to Detroit, but two of them died shortly after their arrival, and the only horse in the settlement in 1711 was the third animal and was called "Colon." All of the work necessary to be done by animals was performed by this horse and four oxen, also owned by Cadillac, and a few other oxen owned by some of the colonists.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cadillac was in the marine department and was stationed on the hill that overlooks the city, probably the present site of the Chateau Frontenac, or possibly even further up at the citadel. When the evening came and he was released from his duties he, with others, was accustomed to wan-
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveCadillac, Michigan (circa 1880s)
Born hereAdolph Wolgast is born hereBuiltOld Cadillac City Hall is built
In the archiveWilliam W Mitchell
In the archiveModern methods in woods at Cadillac
Born hereGuy Vander Jagt is born here
Born hereJan Harold Brunvand is born here
In the archivePhotograph of Forest Entrance Portal on N-55 West of
In the archivePhotograph of a Toboggan
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cadillac. 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 Cadillac.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cadillac’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 2,213 and 10,425 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cadillac’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Cadillac’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Clam Lake, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cadillac’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1880 counted 2,213 people here.
Cadillac is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #140 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.
9 listings: 8 buildings and 1 structure. 11 historic buildings in all.
30% of Cadillac’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 Wikimedia Commons (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (9), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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