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AHistory
History · Frankenmuth Township

Frankenmuth Township dates to 1845, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Gugel Bridge. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1910.

1845founded
1on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Frankenmuth Township began

When was Frankenmuth Township founded?

1845

Frankenmuth Township dates its founding to 1845 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 693 in 19102020 census: 1,895181 years

How historic is Frankenmuth Township?

A

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Frankenmuth Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frankenmuth Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Frankenmuth Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1845, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194031.8% of homes (±7.8) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 4.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
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 Frankenmuth Township’s 4.8 sits above most of its state (75% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1845.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Frankenmuth 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 writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19194 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1973. Watch Frankenmuth Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1845: 181 years of Frankenmuth Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Frankenmuth Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Frankenmuth Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewJazz musician Harry Gozzard and his wif…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Frankenmuth Township on the map, 1919 to 1973

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

Frankenmuth Township on the 1919 USGS mapFrankenmuth Township on the 1941 USGS mapFrankenmuth Township on the 1967 USGS mapFrankenmuth Township on the 1973 USGS map1919Saginaw 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 Frankenmuth Township.

Timeline

Frankenmuth Township, 1845 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845
    FoundingFrankenmuth Township is established
  3. 1894Post officeThe Gera post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1942In the archiveSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Frankenmuth, Saginaw County, Michigan. LOC sanborn04012 0…
  7. 1954Post officeThe Gera post office closes
  8. 1980In the archiveJazz musician Harry Gozzard and his wife Wilda
The story

How Frankenmuth Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Frankenmuth Township.

Read it all →

The area was settled and named by conservative Lutheran immigrants from Roßtal area of Franconia in Germany. The group of settlers left Germany aboard the Caroline on April 20, 1845, and arrived at Castle Garden in New York seven weeks later. They traveled via canals and the Great Lakes from New York to Detroit and arrived in August 1845. Sailing then on the Nelson Smith, the settlers made their way to Saginaw and traveled over land to what is now the city of Frankenmuth.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Frankenmuth Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Frankenmuth, Saginaw County, Michigan. LOC sanborn04012 0021942Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Frankenmuth, Saginaw …MapSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Frankenmuth, Saginaw County, Michigan. LOC sanborn04012 0021942Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Frankenmuth, Saginaw …Map
1950s–1970snothing 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
1980s1 item
Jazz musician Harry Gozzard and his wife Wilda1980Jazz musician Harry Gozzard and his wife Wilda
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
Today9 recent
Bavarian Inn Restaurant, Frankenmuth, Michigan, 2014-01-112015Bavarian Inn Restaurant, Frankenmuth, Michigan, 2014-…Abby's, Frankenmuth, Michigan, 2015-01-112015Abby's, Frankenmuth, Michigan, 2015-01-11Senator Stabenow speaks to the Michigan United Conservation Club in2010Senator Stabenow speaks to the Michigan United Conser…Gugel Bridge2009Gugel BridgeFrankenmuth MI2009Frankenmuth MIFrankenmuth Michigan2008Frankenmuth MichiganFrankenmuth MI Stlorenz church2007Frankenmuth MI Stlorenz churchMIMap-doton-Frankenmuth2005MIMap-doton-FrankenmuthMaking turtles2002Making turtles
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.

Jazz musician Harry Gozzard and his wife Wilda
Retake this viewJazz musician Harry Gozzard and his wife Wilda, 1980

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Frankenmuth Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
Gugel Bridge
Gugel Bridge
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Truss Bridge1
Gugel BridgeTruss Bridge

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Frankenmuth Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5001920194019601980200020204,987

Grew from 693 people in 1910 to 4,987 in 2020, 7 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Frankenmuth Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Gera
Gone or out of use
Gera Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Frankenmuth Township
Bethel Lutheran ChurchCampau FamilyMount Olivet Methodist

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.

Tuscola Township1 historic placeAFrankenmuthIts storyB−Birch Run TownshipIts storyCBlumfield TownshipIts storyB−Bridgeport Township1 historic placeB+

Questions about Frankenmuth Township’s history

What year was Frankenmuth Township founded?

In 1845, according to Wikidata. Frankenmuth Township’s post office opened in 1894, and the census of 1910 counted 693 people here.

How does Frankenmuth Township rank for history?

Frankenmuth Township is more historic than 88% 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.

What is on the National Register in Frankenmuth Township?

One place: the Gugel Bridge (listed 2000).

How old are the homes in Frankenmuth Township?

32% of Frankenmuth Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1967.

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 Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.