Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #440 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Grand Rapids Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1850.
Grand Rapids Township dates its founding to 1826 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grand Rapids Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #440 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Grand Rapids 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grand Rapids Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grand Rapids 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 Grand Rapids Township.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGrand Rapids 1831
In the archiveView in Monroe-Street, Grand Rapids
In the archiveUS-MI(1891) p420 GRAND RAPIDS, BISSELL CARET-SWEEPER COMPANY
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Grand Rapids Township.
After the French established territories in Michigan, Jesuit missionaries and traders traveled down Lake Michigan and its tributaries.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grand Rapids Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 2,686 people in 1850 to 198,917 in 2020, more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grand Rapids Township’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1826, according to Wikidata. the census of 1850 counted 2,686 people here.
Grand Rapids Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #440 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.
5% of Grand Rapids Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (4), Wikidata (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
1899