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Lake of the Clouds, MichiganPhoto: Gbohm · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Carp Lake Township

12% of Carp Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1956 on.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Carp Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Carp Lake 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.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Carp Lake Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Carp Lake Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Carp Lake Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCarp Lake, Mich: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Nonesuch
1876–1887
Green
1904–1933
White Pine Mine
1915–1942
White Pine
1954–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Buckshot LandingCarp Lake LandingLaFayette LandingNonesuchSilver CityWhite Pine
Gone or out of use
Carp Lake MinemineCuyahoga MinemineGreen Post Officepost officeLaFayette MinemineNonesuch Post Officepost officeUnion MinemineWhite Pine Extension MinemineWhite Pine MinemineWhite Pine Minemine
1cemetery inside Carp Lake Township
Finnish Evangelical Lutheran

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

The story so far

Carp Lake Township, in brief

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

Carp Lake Township is a civil township of Ontonagon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of the township was 582 at the 2020 census. Part of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is within the township. Carp Lake Township is the westernmost municipality in the United States to use Eastern Standard Time.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 722 to 582 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Carp Lake Township, 1876 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Nonesuch post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Nonesuch post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Green post office opens
  6. 1911In the archiveCarp Lake, Mich
  7. 1915Post officeThe White Pine Mine post office opens
  8. 1933Post officeThe Green post office closes
  9. 1942Post officeThe White Pine Mine post office closes
  10. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Carp Lake Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s3 items
Carp Lake, Mich1911Carp Lake, MichCarp Lake, Mich1911Carp Lake, MichCamping ground1911Camping ground
1920s–1990snothing 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
On the map

Carp Lake Township on the map, 1956 to 1999

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

Carp Lake Township on the 1956 USGS mapCarp Lake Township on the 1981 USGS mapCarp Lake Township on the 1999 USGS map1956Bergland 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 Carp Lake 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.

Carp Lake, Mich
Retake this viewCarp Lake, Mich, 1911

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Carp Lake Township

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

See all →
A
Al RossiAmerican rower · b. 1931
Frank OlsonAmerican chemist · b. 1910
O
Otto BinderAmerican writer · b. 1911
J
Jay W. JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1943
Lise Anne CoutureArchitect · b. 1959
Tony AveRacecar driver · b. 1968
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bergland Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOntonagon Township4 historic placesAWakefield Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMatchwood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Carp Lake Township’s history

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 Library of Congress (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.