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History · Coldwater Township

17% of Coldwater Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1959 on.

0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Coldwater Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Coldwater 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.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Coldwater Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coldwater Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coldwater 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 viewGreetings from Coldwater, Mich. Chicago…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sherman City
1871–1913
Letson
1886–1888
Brinton
1888–1906
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrintonSherman City
Gone or out of use
Brinton Post Officepost officeColdwater Oil and Gas FieldoilfieldRocky Pine AirportairportSherman City Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Coldwater Township
ConleyNorth BrintonOdd Fellows

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Coldwater Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coldwater Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Coldwater Township is a civil township of Isabella County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 801 at the 2020 census, making it the least-populated township in the county.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 777 to 801 (+3%).

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

Timeline

Coldwater Township, 1871 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Sherman City post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Letson post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Letson post office closes
  5. 1888Post officeThe Brinton post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906Post officeThe Brinton post office closes
  8. 1908In the archiveGreetings from Coldwater, Mich. Chicago Avenue
  9. 1913Post officeThe Sherman City post office closes
  10. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Coldwater Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Greetings from Coldwater, Mich. Chicago Avenue1908Greetings from Coldwater, Mich. Chicago AvenueGreetings from Coldwater, Mich. High school1908Greetings from Coldwater, Mich. High schoolGreetings from Coldwater, Mich. Court house1908Greetings from Coldwater, Mich. Court house
1910s–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

Coldwater Township on the map, 1959 to 1984

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

Coldwater Township on the 1959 USGS mapColdwater Township on the 1984 USGS map1959Lake 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 Coldwater 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.

Greetings from Coldwater, Mich. Chicago Avenue
Retake this viewGreetings from Coldwater, Mich. Chicago Avenue, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Coldwater Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Coldwater Township

Nobody well known was born in Coldwater Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Wayne TerwilligerAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1925
G
Glenn Douglas PackardMultimedia artist · b. 1969
J
Jason WentworthAmerican politician · b. 1982
J
Johnny HeimschAmerican football player · b. 1902
Rex DeVogtMajor League Baseball player · b. 1888
E
Eugene L. DersnahAmerican sports coach and educator · b. 1888
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Gilmore TownshipIts storyCFork TownshipIts storyCSherman Township1 historic placeB−Garfield TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Coldwater Township’s history

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.