Founding year: the first Caledonia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1888.
History grade
What drives Caledonia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Caledonia is more historic than 64% 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 Caledonia’s overall grade.
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 Caledonia’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 (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1888.
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 Caledonia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Caledonia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Grand Rapids 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 Caledonia.
The story so far
Caledonia, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Caledonia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Caledonia is a village in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,622 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Caledonia Township about 15 miles (24.1 km) southeast of downtown Grand Rapids.
Its first post office opened in 1843. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,511 to 1,622 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Caledonia in 1870
Passages that mention Caledonia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History and directory of Kent County, Michigan1870 · page 19Read the page →
Read the text
The Grand River Valley Division of the Michigan Central Railroad comes in from the south, and passes through the townships of Caledonia, Gaines and Paris, with a northern terminus at Grand Rapids. This road has the following stations: Hammond, Paris and Caledonia.
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.
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.
1896Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewM-6, M-37 interchange incomplete
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Caledonia’s page.
Grew from 340 people in 1880 to 1,622 in 2020, 4 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Caledonia’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Caledonia’s history
What year was Caledonia founded?
The Caledonia post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1888.
How does Caledonia rank for history?
Caledonia is more historic than 64% 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 Caledonia?
21% of Caledonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (4), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
Date?
2021
2020
2005