The story
Read it all →How Coloma Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Coloma Township.
Coloma was incorporated as a village in 1893 and as a city in 1941.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Coloma Township
Coloma Township dates to 1893, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #511 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1900.
1893founded
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Coloma Township began
When was Coloma Township founded?
1893
Coloma Township dates its founding to 1893 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
First census: 687 in 19002020 census: 5,051133 years
How historic is Coloma Township?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1901.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Coloma Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coloma Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #511 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Coloma Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1893, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.0% of homes (±6.3) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 36%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 27%
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 Coloma 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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1893.
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 (±6.3 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Coloma Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Coloma Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coloma Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pawpaw Lake
Lake Point
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hillview Mobile EstatesLittle Paw Paw LakePaw Paw LakeRavine View Estates Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Lake Point Post Officepost officeLake Point StationlocalePawpaw Lake Post Officepost officeRinger Landing Stripairport
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Coloma Township, 1893 to 1942
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1893FoundingColoma Township is established
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Pawpaw Lake post office opens
- 1907Post officeThe Pawpaw Lake post office closes
- 1909Post officeThe Lake Point post office opens
- 1919Post officeThe Lake Point post office closes
- 1927
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1930
In the archiveRose Inn and Rose Cottages -- Paw Paw Lake Road, Coloma, Mich (90754) - 1942
In the archiveMrs. William Wood manages a one hundred and twenty acre farm in Coloma, Michigan, with li…
By decade
Coloma Township, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1930s–1940s4 items
1942
19421950s–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 albumToday1 recent
2019On the map
Coloma Township on the map, 1927 to 1970
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coloma Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927Benton Harbor sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coloma 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 viewRose Inn and Rose Cottages -- Paw Paw Lake Road, Coloma, Mich (90754), c. 1930
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Coloma Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Coloma Township, census by census
Between 663 and 1,833 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coloma Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Coloma Township’s history
What year was Coloma Township founded?
In 1893, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Coloma Township’s post office opened in 1901, and the census of 1900 counted 687 people here.
How does Coloma Township rank for history?
Coloma Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #511 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Coloma Township?
15% of Coloma Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1969.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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.