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B−History
History · Custer Township

Custer Township’s post office opened in 1878, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1931 on, and the census since 1900.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Custer Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Custer Township began

When was Custer Township founded?

1878

The Custer Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Indian Town (1865), East Riverton (1875) and Ferryville (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 269 in 19002020 census: 1,321148 years

How historic is Custer Township?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Custer Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Custer Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Custer Township is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Custer Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1878, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194028.3% of homes (±7.2) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National 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 49%
NewerOlder

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 Custer 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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points). 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 Custer 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 writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Custer Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 365 in 1960; 272 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Custer Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCuster Milling Co: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Indian Town
1865–1875
East Riverton
1875–1888
Ferryville
1875–1878
Weldon Creek
1875–1892
Custer
1878–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Custer
Gone or out of use
East Riverton Post Officepost officeWeldon Creek Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Custer Township
Riverside

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

People over time

Custer Township, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 365

Peaked at 365 in 1960; 272 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Custer Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Custer Township.

Read it all →

Prior to European settlers arriving in the area, Native Americans lived near what is now Custer, with a location just south of the city being the site of a battle between the Mascouten and Odawa on the Pere Marquette River. At the site, known as the Not-A-Pe-Ka-Gon Site, thousands of Mascouten were killed by the Odawa and their heads were placed on sticks, giving the river its original name, "Notipekago" or "Notipekagon", meaning "heads on sticks" in English.

The United States created an Indian reservation where Custer is located in 1855. Custer was platted in 1878 and incorporated as a village in 1895. The village was named for George Armstrong Custer.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Custer Township, 1865 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Post officeThe Indian Town post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Indian Town post office closes
  4. 1875Post officeThe East Riverton post office opens
  5. 1875Post officeThe Ferryville post office opens
  6. 1878Post officeThe Ferryville post office closes
  7. 1888Post officeThe East Riverton post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1915In the archiveCuster Milling Co
  10. 1925In the archiveCuster, Michigan - 1925
  11. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 365
By decade

Custer Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s3 items
Custer Milling Co1915Custer Milling CoCuster Hotel and Post Office1915Custer Hotel and Post OfficeCuster, Michigan - 19251925Custer, Michigan - 1925
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
Village of2025Village ofVillage hall of Village of2025Village hall of Village ofSanders Meats2025Sanders MeatsPost office, Village of2025Post office, Village ofNot-A-Pe-Ka-Gon (Notipekago) Site2025Not-A-Pe-Ka-Gon (Notipekago) SiteSt. Mary-Custer2020St. Mary-Custer
On the map

Custer Township on the map, 1931 to 1987

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

Custer Township on the 1931 USGS mapCuster Township on the 1959 USGS mapCuster Township on the 1987 USGS map1931Custer NW sheet · 1:31,680

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Custer Milling Co
Retake this viewCuster Milling Co, 1915

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Custer Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Custer Township

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

See all →
J
Jim LitesAmerican sports executive · b. 1954
D
D. Stanley CoorsAmerican bishop · b. 1889
J
Jeff DongvilloAmerican politician · b. 1953
L
LeRoy HemingerAmerican football coach and college athletics a… · b. 1914
W
Walter M. FrenchAssociate Justice of the Washington Supreme Cou… · b. 1874
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Scottville1 historic placeA−Eden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherman TownshipIts storyB−Branch TownshipIts storyC−Amber TownshipIts storyCRiverton TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Custer Township’s history

What year was Custer Township founded?

The Custer Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Custer Township rank for history?

Custer Township is more historic than 49% 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 Custer Township?

28% of Custer Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1965.

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 (7), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.