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Flagpoles at Coopersville City HallPhoto: Travisvanvelzen · CC BY-SA 4.0
CHistory
History · Coopersville

Coopersville’s post office opened in 1859, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #528 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Below: maps from 1883 on and the census since 1880.

1859first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Travisvanvelzen · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Coopersville began

When was Coopersville founded?

1859

The Coopersville post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1967.

First census: 645 in 18802020 census: 4,828167 years

How historic is Coopersville?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Coopersville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1967.
History grade

What drives Coopersville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coopersville is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #528 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 Coopersville’s overall grade.
Founding era1859, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.4% of homes (±3.9) · 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 34%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 25%

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 Coopersville’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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1967.

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 Coopersville’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 Coopersville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1883 to 1916, drew every building in Coopersville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coopersville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coopersville’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
Every building

Coopersville, building by building, 1883–1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Coopersville fire insurance map, 1883, sheet 11883Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Coopersville, in brief

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

Coopersville is a city located in north central Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,828 at the 2020 census. It is primarily a farming community. The city is located within Polkton Township, though it is administratively autonomous. It lies just north of Interstate 96 along the eastern township boundary, adjacent to Wright Township on the east. There are two exits on I-96, one at the southeast corner of the city and the other at the southwest corner. The city has a post office and a public library. Coopersville served as the primary filming location for the 2012 football film Touchback.

Its first post office opened in 1859. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,275 to 4,828 (+13%).

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

Timeline

Coopersville, 1859 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859Post officeThe Coopersville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1934Born hereDel Shannon is born here
  5. 1945On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1952Born hereButch Miller is born here
  7. 1957Born hereRick Coles is born here
  8. 1968Born hereTim Steele is born here
By decade

Coopersville, decade by decade

Today9 recent
Flagpoles at Coopersville City Hall2021Flagpoles at Coopersville City HallFormer Coopersville Free Methodist Church, 334 Ottawa St, Coopersville, MI 2019-11-172019Former Coopersville Free Methodist Church, 334 Ottawa…Coopersville Railroad Depot2013Coopersville Railroad DepotOttawa County Sheriff Department Patrol Car2012Ottawa County Sheriff Department Patrol CarOttawa County Sheriff Department Patrol Car2012Ottawa County Sheriff Department Patrol CarCoopersville and Polktown Township Fire Truck2012Coopersville and Polktown Township Fire TruckA T-bucket Street Rod2012A T-bucket Street RodCoopersville Polkton Fire Dept. truck no. 4812008Coopersville Polkton Fire Dept. truck no. 481MIMap-doton-Coopersville2005MIMap-doton-Coopersville
On the map

Coopersville on the map, 1945 to 1980

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

Coopersville on the 1945 USGS mapCoopersville on the 1980 USGS map1945Ravenna 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 Coopersville.

People over time

Coopersville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,000188019001920194019601980200020204,828

Grew from 645 people in 1880 to 4,828 in 2020, 7 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coopersville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Coopersville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Del ShannonAmerican musician · b. 1934
B
Butch MillerAmerican stock car racing driver · b. 1952
T
Tim SteeleAmerican racing driver · b. 1968
R
Rick ColesAmerican football coach · b. 1957
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Coopersville’s post office has been open since 1859.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Timberline Estates Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Coopersville Airportairport
1cemetery inside Coopersville
Coopersville - Polkton

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Polkton TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Coopersville’s history

What year was Coopersville founded?

The Coopersville post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1967.

How does Coopersville rank for history?

Coopersville is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #528 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 Coopersville?

13% of Coopersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1983.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (9), Wikidata (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.