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History · Freeland

Freeland’s post office opened in 1879

Most of Freeland was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1962 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Freeland began

When was Freeland founded?

1879

The Freeland post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 7,630147 years
Founding year: the first Freeland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Freeland’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Freeland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freeland’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

How Freeland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Freeland.

Read it all →

The place was home to Native Americans long before the arrival of European settlers. In the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawatomi ceded a large portion of land, including Saginaw County, to the United States federal government. In that treaty, within the ceded territory, several tracts were reserved for specific groups of Chippewa. One such tract, Black Bird's Village, consisted of 6,000 acres (24 km2) on the Tittabawassee (named as the Tetabawasink river in the text of the treaty), very near to the present location of Freeland.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Freeland, 1877 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877In the archiveAtlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actual surveys and records
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Born hereAleda E. Lutz is born here
  5. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Freeland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Atlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actual surveys and records1877Atlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actu…Map
Today3 recent
Barn + snow + sun2016Barn + snow + sunDow plane arriving from Texas2011Dow plane arriving from TexasMIMap-doton-Freeland2005MIMap-doton-Freeland
On the map

Freeland on the map, 1962 to 1984

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

Freeland on the 1962 USGS mapFreeland on the 1973 USGS mapFreeland on the 1984 USGS map1962Auburn sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Freeland.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Tittabawassee TownshipIts storyC−Ingersoll TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Freeland’s history

What year was Freeland founded?

The Freeland post office opened in 1879, 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 →
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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 (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.