The Girard Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Girard (1835), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,916 in 20002020 census: 1,770191 years
How historic is Girard Township?
B
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Girard Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Girard Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Girard Township is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Girard 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 Girard 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 B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 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 Girard Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Girard Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Union City 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 Girard Township.
Timeline
Girard Township, 1835 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Girard Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Girard Township is a civil township of Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 1,770. A small area in the south of the township, just west of I-69, has been annexed to the city of Coldwater, even though it is noncontiguous with the rest of the city. An area on the east side of Morrison Lake in the Coldwater River is considered to be part of the Coldwater urban area, although it remains unincorporated.
Its first post office opened in 1835. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,780 in 2010, 1,770 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
The Girard Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Girard Township rank for history?
Girard Township is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. 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 Girard Township?
20% of Girard Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 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.
