The Clarence Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Clarence (1841), Rice Creek (1841) and Duck Lake (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,903185 years
How historic is Clarence Township?
B+
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Clarence Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clarence Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clarence Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clarence 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 Clarence 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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.5 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 Clarence Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Like the rest of Calhoun County, Clarence Township was populated by Potawatomi people before the coming of Euro-Americans. The first Euro-American settler came to the township in 1836. It was not until 1845 that a Euro-American settled at Duck Lake. This was Jacob Nichols, who still had Potawatomi neighbors as his only close neighbors for several years after this.
The township was organized in 1838. The first school in the township was established the following year.
The Clarence Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clarence Township rank for history?
Clarence Township is more historic than 69% 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 Clarence Township?
27% of Clarence Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 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.
