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CHistory
History · Central Lake Township

Central Lake Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1900.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Central Lake Township began

When was Central Lake Township founded?

1869

The Central Lake Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Factoryville (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,307 in 19002020 census: 2,159157 years

How historic is Central Lake Township?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Central Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Central Lake Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Central Lake Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Central Lake Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1869, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.1% of homes (±4.3) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder

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 Central Lake Township’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 C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Central 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 writtenNo old photos of Central Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Central Lake Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Central Lake Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Central Lake Township.

Read it all →

Central Lake was given a post office in 1869. James M. Wadsworth started a store here in 1872. The village was platted in 1883. The Chicago and Western Railroad put a depot in Central Lake in 1892. It was incorporated as a village in 1895.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Central Lake Township, 1869 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Central Lake post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Factoryville post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Post officeThe Factoryville post office closes
  6. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Central Lake Township, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Untitled photo2021Untitled photoUntitled photo2021Untitled photoUntitled photo2021Untitled photoCentral Lake (village), MI location2019Central Lake (village), MI locationCentral Lake High School2015Central Lake High School
On the map

Central Lake Township on the map, 1954 to 1983

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

Central Lake Township on the 1954 USGS mapCentral Lake Township on the 1983 USGS map1954Central Lake 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 Central Lake Township.

People over time

Central Lake Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,307

Between 607 and 1,307 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

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

Central Lake
1869–today
Factoryville
1888–1907
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Central Lake
Gone or out of use
Central Lake StationlocaleFactoryville Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Central Lake Township
Bay ViewSouthern

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.

Torch Lake TownshipIts storyC−Echo TownshipIts storyCBanks TownshipIts storyB−Forest Home Township2 historic placesB−EastportIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Central Lake Township’s history

What year was Central Lake Township founded?

The Central Lake Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Central Lake Township rank for history?

Central Lake Township is more historic than 32% 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 Central Lake Township?

12% of Central Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1977.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikipedia, 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.