Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #362 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Its Register listing is the House at 6112 Carpenter Road. Most of Genesee Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1920 on.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Genesee Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #362 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Genesee Township’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Genesee Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Genesee Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Genesee Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Genesee Township.
Native Americans had no settlement in the area but in the northwest corner of section 11 established a graveyard. The graveyard was found when the railroad came through.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltHouse at 6112 Carpenter Road is built
In the archiveAtlas of Genesee County, Michigan - containing maps of every township in the county, with…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2019View of Stepping Stone Falls
2019View of Stepping Stone Falls
2019View of Stepping Stone Falls
2019View of Stepping Stone Falls
2019View of Stepping Stone Falls
2019View of Stepping Stone Falls
2019Footbridge across an inlet of Mott Lake near Stepping…
2019Fall (and a few Halloween) decorative figures along M…
2019Fall decorative figures along Mott Lake
2019A portion of Mott LakeThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Genesee Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #362 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.
One place: the House at 6112 Carpenter Road (listed 1982).
8% of Genesee Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1966.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
