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History · Gilmore Township

20% of Gilmore Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on.

0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Gilmore Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Gilmore Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gilmore Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gilmore Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gilmore Township’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
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.

South Frankfort
1872–1911
Grace
1880–1884
Elberta
1911–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Elberta
Gone or out of use
Elberta StationlocaleGrace Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Gilmore Township
Gilmore Township

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

The story so far

Gilmore Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gilmore Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Gilmore Township is a civil township of Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 813 at the 2020 census. The L-shaped township contains the village of Elberta and is bordered on the north by the city of Frankfort. The narrow township is located between Crystal Lake Township to the north and Blaine Township to the south, as well as a short boundary with Benzonia Township to the east.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 821 to 791 (-4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Gilmore Township, 1872 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe South Frankfort post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Grace post office opens
  4. 1884Post officeThe Grace post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1911Post officeThe South Frankfort post office closes
  7. 1911Post officeThe Elberta post office opens
  8. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gilmore Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
End of Grace Road2013End of Grace RoadEnd of Grace Road - panoramio (3)2013End of Grace Road - panoramio (3)End of Grace Road - panoramio (2)2013End of Grace Road - panoramio (2)End of Grace Road - panoramio (1)2013End of Grace Road - panoramio (1)
On the map

Gilmore Township on the map, 1956 to 1983

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

Gilmore Township on the 1956 USGS mapGilmore Township on the 1983 USGS map1956Frankfort 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 Gilmore Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Gilmore Township

Nobody well known was born in Gilmore Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
S
Sam SlyfieldSound engineer · b. 1898
Liz MoeggenbergAmerican basketball player · b. 1984
P
Paul EdingerPlayer of American football · b. 1978
James D. HittleAmerican military officer · b. 1915
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

ElbertaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFrankfort4 historic placesA−Crystal Lake TownshipIts storyC+Blaine Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Gilmore Township’s history

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), 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.