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–Not graded
History · Columbus Township

12% of Columbus Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Columbus 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 writtenNo old photos of Columbus Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Columbus Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Columbus Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Columbus Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Laketon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

McMillan
1887–today
Laketon
1902–1913
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DanaherLaketonMcMillan
Gone or out of use
Laketon Post Officepost officeLaketon Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Columbus Township
Columbus Township

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

The story so far

Columbus Township, in brief

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

Columbus Township is a civil township of Luce County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 169.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 204 to 169 (-17%).

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

Timeline

Columbus Township, 1887 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe McMillan post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Laketon post office opens
  5. 1913Post officeThe Laketon post office closes
  6. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Columbus Township on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Columbus Township on the 1973 USGS mapColumbus Township on the 1985 USGS map1973Buckeye Lake sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Columbus Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Columbus Township

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

See all →
L
Len St. JeanPlayer of American football · b. 1941
F. Robert EdwardsAmerican politician · b. 1940
Martin R. BradleyAmerican politician · b. 1888
R
Rob RubickPlayer of American football · b. 1960
J
John MillerAmerican author (20th century)
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

McMillan Township1 historic placeA−Lakefield TownshipIts storyCSeney TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Columbus 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 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.