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History · Fair Plain

Fair Plain’s post office opened in 1898

Most of Fair Plain was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1960. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1880 on.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fair Plain’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fair Plain began

When was Fair Plain founded?

1898

The Fair Plain post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 7,402128 years
Founding year: the first Fair Plain post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fair Plain’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Fair Plain’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fair Plain’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fair Plain’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fair Plain came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fair Plain.

Read it all →

The community was named for the scenic character of the original town site.

Fairplain Plaza, located on M-139 on the east edge of Fair Plain, was the first shopping center in the area, opening in 1958. The original Fairplain Plaza was largely demolished by the late 1990s, but was subsequently rebuilt and expanded using different architecture techniques.

There was a failed proposal to incorporate Fair Plain as a city in 1975.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Fair Plain, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Berrien County - Fair Plain - ED 11-8B, ED 11-83A18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Be…
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Berrien County - Fair Plain - ED 11-8B, ED 11-83A
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Berrien County - Fair Plain - ED 11-8B, ED 11-83A, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fair Plain’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Fair Plain

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

See all →
Ernie HudsonAmerican actor and former U.S. Marine · b. 1945
SinbadAmerican comedian and actor · b. 1956
Wilson ChandlerAmerican basketball player · b. 1987
G
Gene HarrisAmerican pianist · b. 1933
C
Charles MooreAmerican architect · b. 1925
H
Herbert S. GutowskyAmerican physical chemist · b. 1919
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Benton Harbor2 historic placesB+St. Joseph TownshipIts storyC+Benton Township3 historic placesA−Royalton TownshipIts storyB−St. Joseph3 historic placesA

Questions about Fair Plain’s history

What year was Fair Plain founded?

The Fair Plain post office opened in 1898, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.