Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gaylord

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Frank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer HouseFrank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer House · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0
B−History
History · Gaylord

Gaylord’s post office opened in 1874, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #391 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Gaylord was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Frank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer House and the James A. and Lottie J. (Congdon) Quick House. Its Register listings are the Frank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer House and the James A. and Lottie J. (Congdon) Quick House. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.

1874first post office
2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gaylord’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gaylord began

When was Gaylord founded?

1874

The Gaylord post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 292 in 18802020 census: 4,286152 years

How historic is Gaylord?

B−

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Gaylord post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Gaylord’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gaylord is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #391 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 Gaylord’s overall grade.
Founding era1874, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.2% of homes (±4.8) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 6.9 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 44%

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 Gaylord’s 6.9 sits above most of its state (79% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±4.8 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 Gaylord’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1916, drew every building in Gaylord.
★ What stands out · Every building

Gaylord, building by building, 1893–1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Gaylord fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Gaylord came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gaylord.

Read it all →

The town was unofficially called Barnes, after secretary of the Michigan Central Railroad and state representative Orlando Barnes, the town was settled in 1873 when the Jackson, Lansing, and Saginaw Railroads were extended north from Otsego Lake Village in the same year. All property north of Main Street was owned by the railroad. Barnes owned all of the property to the south. Main Street was the borderline for two townships. This put the northern half of the new community in Livingston Township and the southern portion in Bagley Township.

The town then became known as the “Village of Gaylord” in 1874, thanks to Augustine Smith Gaylord who was a highly respected lawyer in the village.

ChaptersFounding and early years20th-century historyModern history

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gaylord, 1874 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Gaylord post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908In the archiveGaylord
  5. 1930In the archiveLakeview Resort and Restaurant, Gaylord, Mich (90743)
  6. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gaylord, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s7 items
Gaylord1908GaylordGaylord, Mich1908Gaylord, MichGaylord, Mich1908Gaylord, MichCourt house1908Court houseSouth F. St1908South F. StCourt house yard1908Court house yardM.E. Ch. [Methodist Episcopal church] & parsonage1908M.E. Ch. [Methodist Episcopal church] & parsonage
1930s1 item
Lakeview Resort and Restaurant, Gaylord, Mich (90743)c. 1930Lakeview Resort and Restaurant, Gaylord, Mich (90743)
1940s–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
Today4 recent
Treetops2008TreetopsMasterpiece Golf - Treetops Resort2008Masterpiece Golf - Treetops ResortOtsego Club & Resort2006Otsego Club & ResortMIMap-doton-Gaylord2005MIMap-doton-Gaylord
On the map

Gaylord on the map, 1954 to 1986

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

Gaylord on the 1954 USGS mapGaylord on the 1975 USGS mapGaylord on the 1986 USGS map1954Gaylord 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 Gaylord.

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.

Gaylord
Retake this viewGaylord, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Gaylord

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Frank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer House
Frank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer HouseJames A. and Lottie J. (Congdon) Quick House
Buildings
Frank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer HouseBuilding
James A. and Lottie J. (Congdon) Quick HouseBuilding

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

People over time

Gaylord, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500188019001920194019601980200020204,286

Grew from 292 people in 1880 to 4,286 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Gaylord’s post office has been open since 1874.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Aspen Commons Mobile Home Park
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gaylord
BagleyFairview

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Gaylord’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGaylord: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bagley TownshipIts storyC−Livingston TownshipIts storyD

Questions about Gaylord’s history

What year was Gaylord founded?

The Gaylord post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Gaylord rank for history?

Gaylord is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #391 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 Gaylord?

Two places: the Frank A. and Rae E. Harris Kramer House (listed 2002) and the James A. and Lottie J. (Congdon) Quick House (2016).

How old are the homes in Gaylord?

6% of Gaylord’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1983.

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 (5), the Library of Congress (7), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.