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C−History
History · Excelsior Township

Excelsior Township dates to 1875

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Excelsior Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1956 on.

1875founded
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Excelsior Township began

When was Excelsior Township founded?

1875

Excelsior Township dates its founding to 1875 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1879.

2020 census: 991151 years

How historic is Excelsior Township?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1879.
History grade

What drives Excelsior Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Excelsior Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Excelsior Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1875, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.5% of homes (±2.6) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder

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 Excelsior 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 C. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1875.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Excelsior 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 Excelsior Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Excelsior Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Excelsior 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

Excelsior Township, in brief

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

Excelsior Township is a civil township of Kalkaska County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 991 at the 2020 census. The township was established in 1875. Portions of the township are served by the Excelsior Township School District 1, which is one of the last remaining one-room schoolhouses in the state. The current township hall also served as a high school in the past and is listed as a state historic site.

Excelsior Township was established in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 953 to 991 (+4%).

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

Timeline

Excelsior Township, 1875 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875
    FoundingExcelsior Township is established
  3. 1879Post officeThe Excelsior post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902Post officeThe Excelsior post office closes
  6. 1956On 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

Excelsior Township on the map, 1956 to 1985

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

Excelsior Township on the 1956 USGS mapExcelsior Township on the 1985 USGS map1956Kalkaska 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 Excelsior Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Excelsior Township

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

See all →
Jim HarrisonAmerican poet, novelist, and essayist · b. 1937
Luke JensenUS tennis player · b. 1966
N
Norman Z. McLeodAmerican film director · b. 1895
Roger MasonAmerican baseball player · b. 1958
E
Emil FriskProfessional baseball player · b. 1874
S
Steven DammanUnsolved 1955 disappearance of American boy · b. 1950
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Excelsior, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cotton
Gone or out of use
Excelsior Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Excelsior Township
Excelsior

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Oliver TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKalkaska TownshipIts storyCColdsprings TownshipIts storyC−Bear Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOrange TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Excelsior Township’s history

What year was Excelsior Township founded?

In 1875, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Excelsior Township’s post office opened in 1879.

How does Excelsior Township rank for history?

Excelsior Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns. 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 Excelsior Township?

5% of Excelsior Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1983.

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).

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.