History · Ferry Township

Ferry Township’s post office opened in 1871, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1931 on.

1871first post office

0on the National Register

13%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Ferry Township began, and where its name came from

When was Ferry Township founded?

1871

The Ferry Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Otto (1864), Reed (1868) and Hansen (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,271155 years

How did Ferry Township get its name?

Ferry Township was named for U.S.representative and later U.S. senator from Michigan Thomas W. Ferry.

How historic is Ferry Township?

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Ferry Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

History grade

What drives Ferry Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ferry Township is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ferry Township’s overall grade.

Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194013.4% of homes (±5.4) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B National 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 34%

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 Ferry 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 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 Ferry Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ferry Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ferry 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

Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Otto

1864–1868

Reed

1868–1871

Hansen

1869–1878

Ferry

1871–1959

Wager

1901–1904

18601940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Ferry

Gone or out of use

Ferry Post Officepost officeHansen Post Officepost officeWager Post Officepost office

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ferry Township

Ferry Township SouthNorth FerryOceana CenterRaul

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

Help out

Start Ferry Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ferry 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

Ferry Township, in brief

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

Ferry Township is a civil township of Oceana County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,271 at the 2020 census. Ferry Township was established in 1869. It was named for U.S.representative and later U.S. senator from Michigan Thomas W. Ferry.

Its first post office opened in 1871. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,292 in 2010, 1,271 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Ferry Township, 1864 to 1931

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

19th century
1864Post officeThe Otto post office opens
1868Post officeThe Otto post office closes
1868Post officeThe Reed post office opens
1869Post officeThe Hansen post office opens
1871Post officeThe Reed post office closes
1878Post officeThe Hansen post office closes
20th century
1931On 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

Ferry Township on the map, 1931 to 1985

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

1931Walkerville SW 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 Ferry Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ferry Township

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

See all →

Evan BruinsmaAmerican basketball player · b. 1992

Verna AardemaAmerican children's writer · b. 1911

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Shelby TownshipIts storyC⁺Newfield TownshipIts storyC Elbridge TownshipIts storyB⁻Otto TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ferry Township’s history

What year was Ferry Township founded?

The Ferry Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ferry Township rank for history?

Ferry Township is more historic than 34% 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 Ferry Township?

13% of Ferry Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1984.

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.

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