Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #148 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Grand Trunk Railway Station and the Durand High School. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1880.
The Durand post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Durand is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #148 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Durand’s 5.7 sits above most of its state (77% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1896Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Durand.
Durand was originally called Vernon Center, and under the latter name was platted in 1836 and named from its location in Vernon Township. The present name is for congressman George H. Durand of Flint, Michigan. Durand was incorporated as a village in 1887 and as a city in 1932.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Durand. 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 Durand.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGrand Trunk Depot, Durand, Mich
BuiltGrand Trunk Railway Station is built
Born herePatricia Donnelly is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archivePresident and Mrs. Ford wave during their primary campaign in Michigan2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2023My first time in Durand seeing a few trains
2015South Side School
2015Knights Templar sign Durand-front
2015Knights Templar sign Durand-back
2012Williams-Cole House
2012Durand High School
2011Greetings from Durand, Michigan - Large Letter Postca…Document
2010Bpstandarddurand
20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook
2009BNSF 5707
2005MIMap-doton-DurandNo 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 Durand’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 210 and 4,283 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Durand’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Durand post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Durand is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #148 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.
Two places: the Grand Trunk Railway Station (listed 1971) and the Durand High School (2009).
38% of Durand’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1900
1900
1909