The Clarendon Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Clarendon (1840), Clarendon Centre (1854) and Clarendon (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,095 in 19602020 census: 1,181186 years
How historic is Clarendon Township?
B+
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Clarendon Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Clarendon Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clarendon Township is more historic than 73% 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 Clarendon 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 Clarendon 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 (±6.1 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 Clarendon Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clarendon Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clarendon Township is a civil township of Calhoun County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,181 at the 2020 census. The township is part of the Battle Creek Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,139 to 1,181 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clarendon Township.
1948Homer 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 Clarendon Township.
People over time
Clarendon Township, census by census
Between 1,095 and 1,181 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clarendon Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Clarendon Township
Nobody well known was born in Clarendon Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Clarendon Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clarendon Township rank for history?
Clarendon Township is more historic than 73% 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 Clarendon Township?
32% of Clarendon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 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.
