The story
Read it all →How Ganges Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ganges Township.
Ganges Township was established in 1847. Esther was the name of a post office here from 1894 until 1901.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Ganges Township
Ganges Township’s post office opened in 1854, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #403 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Below: maps from 1928 on and the census since 1960.
1854first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Ganges Township began
When was Ganges Township founded?
1854
The Ganges Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Ganges (1854), New Casco (1856) and Belknap (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,672 in 19602020 census: 2,574172 years
How historic is Ganges Township?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ganges Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ganges Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ganges Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #403 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ganges Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1854, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194024.2% of homes (±4.9) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−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 46%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 43%
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 Ganges 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 B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 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 Ganges Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ganges
New Casco
Glenn
Belknap
Esther
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GangesGlennGrange CornersPier CoveShorecrest
Gone or out of use
Belknap Post Officepost officeEsther Post Officepost officeGanges Post Officepost officeStickel Landing Stripairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ganges Township
HutchinsLoomisPlummervilleTaylor
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Ganges Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ganges Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Ganges Township, 1847 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1847
Born hereJohn M. Wever is born here - 1854Post officeThe Ganges post office opens
- 1856Post officeThe New Casco post office opens
- 1876Post officeThe New Casco post office closes
- 1876Post officeThe Glenn post office opens
- 20th century
- 1928
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1954Post officeThe Ganges post office closes
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 albumOn the map
Ganges Township on the map, 1928 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ganges Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1928Fennville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ganges Township.
People over time
Ganges Township, census by census
Between 1,672 and 2,574 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ganges Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Ganges Township’s history
What year was Ganges Township founded?
The Ganges Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ganges Township rank for history?
Ganges Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #403 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.
How old are the homes in Ganges Township?
24% of Ganges Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1978.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.