More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #374 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Comstock Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1918 on.
Founding year: the first Comstock Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Comstock Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Comstock Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #374 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Comstock 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 Comstock 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 C to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 Comstock Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Comstock Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Galesburg 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 Comstock Township.
Timeline
Comstock Township, 1832 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Township 2 South Range 10 West was first surveyed in January 1827 by Robert M. Clark. The first settler, William Tolland, came there in 1829 but apparently never purchased any land, despite living there for several years. In 1830, land entries were recorded for William Harris for the southwest quarter of section 17 and Major G. Van Dwyer for the southwest quarter of section 13 (the eastern portion of the section is now part of Galesburg). In 1831 land entries were recorded for Horace H. Comstock, Caleb Eldred, Thomas W. Merrill, Mumford Eldred, Stephen Eldred, Leland Lane, and others. Settling in the eastern part of the township in or near what is now Galesburg were Nathaniel Matthews, Ralph Tuttle, Sherman Cummings, George Townsend, and Nathan Cothren. H. H. Comstock, Caleb Eldred, and Cryus Lovell settled in the western part of the township near what became Comstock.
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.
The Comstock Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Comstock Township rank for history?
Comstock Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #374 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 Comstock Township?
9% of Comstock Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.
2023
2002