Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Goodrich’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Goodrich is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Goodrich’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 Goodrich’s 84.1 sits above most of its state (93% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.3 points). Two sources give 1835.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Goodrich’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
John Goodrich traveled via steam ship from Buffalo, New York to Detroit to settle after they had sold their home in the summer of 1835. They journeyed from Detroit towards modern-day Pontiac, where they met land explorers who told them of the land's beauty. When they reached the vicinity of Davison's Mill (now Atlas), they found rich, fertile soil, an excess of timber, and readily available water. They returned to Detroit and purchased one thousand acres (4 km2) at $1.25 per acre. They returned to their old home in Clarence, New York and prepared to return to their purchased property. It was decided that John Goodrich would travel back via Canada. They completed their journey in 16 days, and built a cabin before the family arrived on May 20, 1836. The first wood-frame house was built for John Goodrich in 1838.
Emily Frost was reared on the farm on which she was bom. east of the village of Goodrich, received her schooling in tlie schools of that neighborhood and remained at home mitil her marriage, on December 29, 1870, to Joseph Goodrich, who was born on a farm two miles west of the village of Goodrich in 1840, son of Levi and Olive (Payne) Goodrich, pioneers and prominent residents of that part of the county. The Goodrich family early became one of the best-known and most influential families in Genesee county and the name is inseparably linked with the history of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Genesee county Michigan1916 · page 647Read the page →
Read the text
Erastus Black and his brother, Henry, owned a farm southeast of Goodrich, but in the fall (if 1856 Erastus Black moved to a farm three miles northeast of there and later into the village of Goodrich, where his last days were spent. .-Vbout the fall of 1861 Frederick A. Green bought a farm of fortv acres of his own, the tract on which his son, Warren O.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Goodrich, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
17
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Goodrich, census by census
Grew from 235 people in 1880 to 2,022 in 2020, 8 times over.
8 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Goodrich’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Goodrich’s history
What year was Goodrich founded?
In 1835, according to Wikidata. Goodrich’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1880 counted 235 people here.
How does Goodrich rank for history?
Goodrich is more historic than 88% 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 Goodrich?
17% of Goodrich’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1993.
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), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
