Genoa Township’s post office opened in 1839, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #187 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 69 buildings. Most of Genoa Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 2000.
From Genoa Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Genoa Township began
When was Genoa Township founded?
1839
The Genoa Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Genoa (1839) and Chilson (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 15,901 in 20002020 census: 20,692187 years
How historic is Genoa Township?
B+
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Genoa Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Genoa Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Genoa Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #187 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 Genoa Township’s overall grade.
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 Genoa Township’s 39.7 sits above most of its state (89% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 82 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Genoa Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Genoa
1839–1882
Chilson
1887–1916
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Brighton Village Mobile Home ParkChilsonSylvan Glen Mobile Estates
Gone or out of use
Chilson Post Officepost officeGenoa Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Genoa Township
Chilson HillsEulerKelleySaint George Lutheran
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Genoa Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Genoa Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Genoa Charter Township is a charter township of Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 20,692. Genoa Township was organized in 1837.
Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 19,821 to 20,692 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Genoa Township, 1839 to 1916
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Genoa Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907Howell 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 Genoa Township.
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.
Retake this viewGenoa Charter Township, MI location
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Genoa Township’s page.
The Genoa Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Genoa Township rank for history?
Genoa Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #187 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 Genoa Township?
Three places: the Main Street Historic District (listed 1983), the August Westphal Farmstead (1985) and the Jacob Fishbeck Farmstead (2003).
How old are the homes in Genoa Township?
3% of Genoa Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 (7), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
Date?
2012
2012
2011
2010
2010
