The story
Read it all →How Coloma came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Coloma.
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
Coloma’s post office opened in 1856, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1930 on.
1856first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Quick answers
How Coloma began
When was Coloma founded?
1856
The Coloma post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 1,465170 years
How historic is Coloma?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Coloma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Coloma’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coloma is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. 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’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194023.1% of homes (±7.6) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National 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 45%
NewerOlder
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’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 C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 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 Coloma’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’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coloma’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Coloma, 1856 to 1942
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1856Post officeThe Coloma post office opens
- 20th century
- 1930
In the archiveRose Inn and Rose Cottages -- Paw Paw Lake Road, Coloma, Mich (90754) - 1937Born hereMarion Hosbein is born here
- 1942
In the archiveMrs. William Wood manages a one hundred and twenty acre farm in Coloma, Michigan, with li…
By decade
Coloma, 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
2019Then & 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’s page.
Retake this view · +15Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Coloma’s history
What year was Coloma founded?
The Coloma post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Coloma rank for history?
Coloma is more historic than 45% 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 Coloma?
23% of Coloma’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1954.
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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.