Forsyth Township’s post office opened in 1877, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #289 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Forsyth Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 209 buildings. Below: maps from 1932 on.
The Forsyth Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Forsyth (1877), Swanzy (1889) and Princeton (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 6,194149 years
How historic is Forsyth Township?
B
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Forsyth Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Forsyth Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forsyth Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #289 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Forsyth 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 Forsyth Township’s 334 sits above most of its state (98% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 209 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Forsyth Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Forsyth
1877–1966
Swanzy
1889–1905
Princeton
1898–1964
Gwinn
1908–today
Little Lake
1966–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AustinCedar BankGwinnK I SawyerLake Haven Estates Mobile Home ParkLittle LakeNew SwanzyNorthernair Mobile EstatesPlainsPrincetonSwanzy
Gone or out of use
Austin Number One MinemineAustin Number Two MinemineFrancis MinemineGardner MinemineGwinn MinemineGwinn StationlocaleJopling MinemineK. I. Sawyer Air Force BasemilitaryMackinaw MineminePrinceton Number One MineminePrinceton Number Three MineminePrinceton Number Two MineminePrinceton Post Officepost officeStegmiller MinemineStephenson MinemineSwanzy Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Forsyth Township
BakkalaGwinn
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Forsyth Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Forsyth Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Forsyth Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Forsyth Township is a civil township of Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,194 at the 2020 census. The township was named for O. F. Forsyth, general agent for a mining firm in the area.
Its first post office opened in 1877. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 6,164 in 2010, 6,194 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Forsyth Township, 1877 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forsyth Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1932Helena NW 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 Forsyth Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Forsyth Township
Nobody well known was born in Forsyth Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Forsyth Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Forsyth Township rank for history?
Forsyth Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #289 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 Forsyth Township?
One place: the Gwinn Model Town Historic District (listed 2002).
How old are the homes in Forsyth Township?
6% of Forsyth 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 1971.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
