More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #440 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of DeWitt Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1891.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives DeWitt Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, DeWitt Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #440 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of DeWitt 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 DeWitt 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 (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1833.
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 DeWitt Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Gunnisonville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cadgewith Farms Mobile Home ParkClinton VillageEast DeWittGunnisonvilleKing Arthur Mobile Home ParkKristana Mobile Home ParkRotunda Mobile Home ParkValley Estates Mobile Home ParkValley Farms
Gone or out of use
Gunnisonville Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside DeWitt Township
GunnisonvilleHurd
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
DeWitt Township, 1833 to 1927
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
DeWitt was named after DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York during the 1820s. It was first settled by Captain David Scott, who moved there from Ann Arbor in 1833, and platted the land. The State Legislature formally created DeWitt Township on March 23, 1836. The first township meeting was held at the house of Captain Scott on April 8, 1836. A gentleman by the name of Welcome J. Partelo was named the township's first Supervisor at that meeting.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of DeWitt Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927De Witt 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 DeWitt Township.
People over time
DeWitt Township, census by census
Grew from 284 people in 1880 to 4,776 in 2020, more than tenfold.
11 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on DeWitt Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1833, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. DeWitt Township’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1880 counted 284 people here.
How does DeWitt Township rank for history?
DeWitt Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #440 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 DeWitt Township?
5% of DeWitt Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 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.
