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History · Carp Lake Township

Carp Lake Township’s post office opened in 1880, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1958 on.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Carp Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Carp Lake Township began

When was Carp Lake Township founded?

1880

The Carp Lake Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 748146 years
Founding year: the first Carp Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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.
★ 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
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 is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Carp Lake had a population of 356. It is located within Carp Lake Township. It was founded by Octave Terrian and later became a station on the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad in 1880.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 759 in 2010, 748 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Carp Lake Township, 1880 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Carp Lake post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911In the archiveCarp Lake, Mich
  5. 1958On 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, 1958 to 1982

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 1958 USGS mapCarp Lake Township on the 1982 USGS map1958Pellston 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 →
George Magoffin HumphreyAmerican politician · b. 1890
Prentiss M. BrownAmerican politician · b. 1889
Aubrey FitchUnited States Navy admiral · b. 1883
Gerald F. BoganUnited States Navy admiral · b. 1894
R
Robert Klark GrahamAmerican eugenicist · b. 1906
S
Scott SiglerAmerican writer · b. 1969
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Carp Lake
Gone or out of use
Carp Lake StationlocaleLevering StationlocaleMacKinaw City Municipal Airportairport
1cemetery inside Carp Lake Township
Levering and Carp Lake

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.

Wawatam Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBliss TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcKinley TownshipIts storyC+Hebron TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Carp Lake Township’s history

What year was Carp Lake Township founded?

The Carp Lake Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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.