Forest Township’s post office opened in 1855, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #233 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Alexander McClew Farm House, the Swayze, E. S., Drugstore/Otisville Mason Lodge No. 401 and the Parker and Dunstan Hardware/Dr. E. D. Lewis Building. Its Register listings are the Alexander McClew Farm House, the Swayze, E. S., Drugstore/Otisville Mason Lodge No. 401 and the Parker and Dunstan Hardware/Dr. E. D. Lewis Building. Below: maps from 1920 on.
The Forest Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Forest (1855) and Clew (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,447171 years
How historic is Forest Township?
B+
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Forest Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Forest Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forest Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #233 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Forest 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 Forest Township’s 6.8 sits above most of its state (79% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Forest 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.
Forest
1855–1861
Otisville
1861–today
Clew
1882–1884
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Orchard Cove Manufactured Home CommunityOtisville
Gone or out of use
Clew Post Officepost officeOtisville Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Forest Township
Smith Hill
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Forest Township on the map, 1920 to 1975
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forest Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Flint 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 Forest Township.
On March 1, 1836, James Seymour purchased the property first in the future Township in section 36. Henry Heister, with his wife and three children, were the first settlers in the spring of 1837, coming from Livingston County. His home was on the Butternut Creek on the piece of property he purchased, the southwest quarter of section 19. Heister's son, George, was the first born in the Township. With in a few years after arriving, he move to Genesee Township.
The Forest Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Forest Township rank for history?
Forest Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #233 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.
What is on the National Register in Forest Township?
Three places: the Alexander McClew Farm House (listed 1982), the Swayze, E. S., Drugstore/Otisville Mason Lodge No. 401 (1982) and the Parker and Dunstan Hardware/Dr. E. D. Lewis Building (1982).
How old are the homes in Forest Township?
19% of Forest Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
