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History · Ensign Township

Ensign Township’s post office opened in 1890, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ensign Township began

When was Ensign Township founded?

1890

The Ensign Township post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Malton (1879), Ogontz (1882) and Big River (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 746136 years
Founding year: the first Ensign Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ensign Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ensign Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ensign Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · 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.

Malton
1879–1883
Ogontz
1882–1913
Big River
1890–1893
Ensign
1890–1967
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AltonEnsignMaywoodOgontz
Gone or out of use
Big River Post Officepost officeEnsign Post Officepost officeOgonte Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ensign Township
JohnstonOgontz

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

Help out

Start Ensign Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ensign 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
The story so far

Ensign Township, in brief

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

Ensign Township is a civil township of Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 746 at the 2020 census, slightly down from 748 at the 2010 census. It encompasses the northern half of the Stonington Peninsula.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 748 in 2010, 746 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Ensign Township, 1879 to 1932

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Malton post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Ogontz post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Malton post office closes
  5. 1890Post officeThe Big River post office opens
  6. 1893Post officeThe Big River post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1913Post officeThe Ogontz post office closes
  9. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Ensign Township on the map, 1932 to 1985

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

Ensign Township on the 1932 USGS mapEnsign Township on the 1958 USGS mapEnsign Township on the 1985 USGS map1932Rapid River SE 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 Ensign Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ensign Township

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

See all →
Tom BissellAmerican journalist · b. 1974
Roger H. ZionAmerican politician · b. 1921
Albin Walter Norblad Jr.American politician · b. 1908
John F. LueckeAmerican politician · b. 1889
Deb BakerAmerican mystery writer from the Upper Peninsul… · b. 1953
Robert John CornellAmerican priest, professor, and politician · b. 1919
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bay de Noc Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNahma Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMasonville Township1 historic placeBBrampton TownshipIts storyC−GladstoneIts storyB−

Questions about Ensign Township’s history

What year was Ensign Township founded?

The Ensign Township post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.