Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Roach, W.R., Cannery Warehouse and Office Building. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
Croswell dates its founding to 1845 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Croswell is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Croswell’s 8.0 sits above most of its state (81% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Croswell’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveAutomobiles of Croswell, Mich
In the archiveCroswell's Autos, Crosswell, Michigan
BuiltRoach, W.R., Cannery Warehouse and Office Building is built
Born hereSusan Work Martin is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Croswell.
The settlement, originally known as Black River, was established in 1845. Later it was known as Davisville, after the town's first postmaster. In 1877 it was renamed Croswell, in honor of Governor Charles Croswell. The town separated politically from Lexington Township by incorporating as a city in 1881.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Croswell. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Croswell.
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.
1900Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Croswell’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 447 and 2,467 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Croswell’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Croswell’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Davisville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1845, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Croswell’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 447 people here.
Croswell is more historic than 90% 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.
One place: the Roach, W.R., Cannery Warehouse and Office Building (listed 2005).
32% of Croswell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1961.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
1909
1910