Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Duncan Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Duncan Township

24% of Duncan Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on.

0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Duncan 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 writtenNo old photos of Duncan Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Duncan Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Duncan Township’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Duncan Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Duncan Township’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
Places that used to be

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

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

Kenton
1889–1976
Kitchi
1889–1901
Sidnaw
1889–today
Crystal Lake
1890–1897
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KentonSidnaw
Gone or out of use
Crystal Lake Post Officepost officeKenton Post Officepost officeKenton StationlocaleKitchi Post Officepost officeKitchi Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Duncan Township
KentonKitchieSidnaw

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

The story so far

Duncan Township, in brief

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

Duncan Township is a civil township of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 234.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 236 in 2010, 234 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Duncan Township, 1889 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Kenton post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Kitchi post office opens
  4. 1889Post officeThe Sidnaw post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Post officeThe Kitchi post office closes
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1976Post officeThe Kenton post office closes
By decade

Duncan Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
D4 C82 Stand 13 opening2013D4 C82 Stand 13 opening
On the map

Duncan Township on the map, 1954 to 1982

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

Duncan Township on the 1954 USGS mapDuncan Township on the 1982 USGS map1954Rousseau 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 Duncan Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Laird Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCovington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townInterior TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIron River Township3 historic placesB+Bates Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Duncan Township’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.