From Erie Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Erie Township began
When was Erie Township founded?
1835
The Erie Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bay Settlement (1827) and Erie (1835), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,299191 years
How historic is Erie Township?
B
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Erie Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Erie Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Erie Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #284 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Erie 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 Erie 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 A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 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 Erie 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
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bay Settlement
1827–1835
Erie
1835–1972
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ErieErie Mobile Home VillageOttawaViennaVienna Junction
Gone or out of use
Erie Aerodromeairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Erie Township
BrighamErie UnionKeeneySaint Joseph - Bay SettlementSaint Joseph
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Erie Township on the map, 1912 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Erie Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1912Monroe 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 Erie Township.
The area was first settled as early as 1790 by French settlers who moved south from the Frenchtown settlement (present-day city of Monroe). The settlers cleared an area along the Maumee Bay in what was then the American Territory Northwest of the River Ohio. Gabriel Richard traveled from Detroit and founded a church here that was named St. Joseph sur la Baie Miami, and Richard held sermons here between 1798 and 1820. In 1819, the first log church was built here along Bay Creek, and a new frame church was constructed in 1826. The community, which was located further inland, was given a post office named Bay Settlement on April 18, 1827 when Erie Township was formally organized. Benoni Newkirk served as the first postmaster. On March 5, 1835, postmaster Salmon Keeney had the office name changed to Erie.
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.
The Erie Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Erie Township rank for history?
Erie Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #284 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 Erie Township?
17% of Erie Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.
