Its Register listing is the Charlevoiz South Pierhead Light. Most of Charlevoix Township was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1880.
From Charlevoix Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Charlevoix Township began
When was Charlevoix Township founded?
1869
The Charlevoix Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Belvedere (1893) and Belvidere (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 512 in 18802020 census: 1,763157 years
How historic is Charlevoix Township?
C
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Charlevoix Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Charlevoix Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Charlevoix Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Charlevoix Township’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 Charlevoix Township’s 6.0 sits above most of its state (77% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Charlevoix Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Charlevoix is named after Fr. Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, a French explorer who traveled the Great Lakes and was said to have stayed the night on Fisherman's Island during a harsh storm. During this time, Native Americans were thought to have lived in the Pine River valley. The Odawa and Ojibwe lived throughout northern Michigan prior to European colonization.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Charlevoix Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1954Charlevoix 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 Charlevoix 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.
Retake this viewLight house, 1890
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Charlevoix Township’s page.
The Charlevoix Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Charlevoix Township rank for history?
Charlevoix 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.
What is on the National Register in Charlevoix Township?
One place: the Charlevoiz South Pierhead Light (listed 2005).
How old are the homes in Charlevoix Township?
1% of Charlevoix Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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1897–1924
