Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Constantine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Constantine is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Constantine’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 Constantine’s 158 sits above most of its state (96% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 34 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.5 points). Two sources give 1831.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Constantine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Potawatomi and related Native Americans historically had villages along the St. Joseph River and other waterways. Several of their leaders signed the Treaty of Chicago, agreeing to cede much of their land in southwestern Michigan, Indiana and Ohio country.
The village was platted in 1831 at the Fawn River's confluence with the St. Joseph River, where three European-American families had settled. A gristmill, the first in the county to run by water, had been built here in 1830.
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.
In 1831, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Constantine’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1850 counted 760 people here.
How does Constantine rank for history?
Constantine is more historic than 97% 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 Constantine?
39% of Constantine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 (9), Wikidata (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1914
c. 1944
c. 1951
2010
2009
2005
