History · Grass Lake

Grass Lake’s post office opened in 1831, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1860.

1831first post office

2on the National Register

38%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Grass Lake’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Grass Lake began

When was Grass Lake founded?

1831

The Grass Lake post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1842.

First census: 479 in 18602020 census: 1,105195 years

How historic is Grass Lake?

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Grass Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1842.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Grass Lake’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grass Lake is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Grass Lake’s overall grade.

Founding era1831, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194037.5% of homes (±10.1) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register2 listings, 4 historic buildings, 33.7 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 94%

NewerOlder

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 Grass Lake’s 33.7 sits above most of its state (88% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±10.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1842 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Grass Lake’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1889 to 1913, drew every building in Grass Lake.Old housesHalf of Grass Lake’s homes were built before 1954.Deep rootsA post office since 1831: 195 years of Grass Lake.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grass Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grass Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewSydneyTSmithHouseGrassLakeMI: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Every building

Grass Lake, building by building, 1889–1913

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Grass Lake fire insurance map, 1889, sheet 1

1889Sheet 1 of 1

Edition

Sheets

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Grass Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Grass Lake.

Read it all →

In 1842, the Michigan Central Railroad bypassed the original village and built a depot 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the west when an offer of $1.50 an acre was offered (compared to $2.00 an acre at the previous city center) [1]. The village was relocated to this new location - its current location - to be closer to the rail depot and some of the original buildings were relocated to the new site.

In 1887, Grass Lake was awarded a stone depot designed by the same architects, Spier and Rohns, and with stone from the same quarry as the Ann Arbor station. The historic Romanesque Whistle Stop Depot offers displays of local interest and is available for rental.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Grass Lake, 1881–1903

Passages that mention Grass Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The present village of Grass Lake is one of the largest in the county and is a noted business center. It has more than a dozen fine stores, some fine brick blocks, splendid school, a good newspaper and shows every evidence of prosperity. The Central Railroad and two electric lines furnish ample, ch… — **DELAND'S HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY,MICHIGAN**1903 · page 424Read the page →
Read the text
The present village of Grass Lake is one of the largest in the county and is a noted business center. It has more than a dozen fine stores, some fine brick blocks, splendid school, a good newspaper and shows every evidence of prosperity. The Central Railroad and two electric lines furnish ample, cheap and quick communication with sur-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

viz.: C. Harold, born Nov. 3, 1S45, now editing a newsuaper in Wisconsin; Alice F., July 14, 1848; Clara M., Jan. 3, 18*53; and Emma L., April 25, 1857. Mr. Hopkins resided in the village of Grass Lake three years; purchased a place one and a half miles south of Grass Lake, where he resided 18 year… — **History of Jackson County, Michigan**1881 · page 862Read the page →
Read the text
viz.: C. Harold, born Nov. 3, 1S45, now editing a newsuaper in Wisconsin; Alice F., July 14, 1848; Clara M., Jan. 3, 18*53; and Emma L., April 25, 1857. Mr. Hopkins resided in the village of Grass Lake three years; purchased a place one and a half miles south of Grass Lake, where he resided 18 years; then removed to the Lake Superior mineral region, where he conducted a successful hardware business 10 years; in Negaunee, Marquette Co., Mich., he was Police Justice for five years; returned toGrassLake in 1875,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Zerah Boynton, one of the earliest settlers of Grass Lake, thus deals concisely with the history of the town: Grass Lake was first settled in the spring of 1829, by a squatter named David Sterling, who resided in his lone cabin one and onehalf miles west of the location of the present village. In t… — **History of Jackson County, Michigan**1881 · page 845Read the page →
Read the text
Zerah Boynton, one of the earliest settlers of Grass Lake, thus deals concisely with the history of the town: Grass Lake was first settled in the spring of 1829, by a squatter named David Sterling, who resided in his lone cabin one and onehalf miles west of the location of the present village. In the fall of the same year he was followed by a party from Niagara county, N. Y., comprising George C. Pease and his son, Win. II. Pease and David Thayer, a cousin to Wm. II. Pease. In 1830 Daniel
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.

Timeline

Grass Lake, 1916 to 1958

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

20th century
1916Born hereDonald T. Campbell is born here
1918Born hereMaritta Wolff is born here
1936In the archiveSydneyTSmithHouseGrassLakeMI
1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Grass Lake, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item

1936SydneyTSmithHouseGrassLakeMI

1940s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

Today5 recent

2010Grass Lake gazebo

2010Grass Lake downtown Michigan Ave. facing west

2010Grass Lake Town Hall

2010Grass Lake Michigan Central Railroad Depot2

2007Fishville Cemetery sign

On the map

Grass Lake on the map, 1958 to 1983

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

1958Grand Rapids sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grass Lake.

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 viewSydneyTSmithHouseGrassLakeMI, 1936

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grass Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

2 historic places in Grass Lake

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

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

Grass Lake, census by census

Between 479 and 1,173 people in every census since 1860.

16 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grass Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Grass Lake

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Donald T. CampbellAmerican social scientist · b. 1916

Maritta WolffAmerican writer · b. 1918

Questions about Grass Lake’s history

What year was Grass Lake founded?

The Grass Lake post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1842.

How does Grass Lake rank for history?

Grass Lake is more historic than 94% 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 Grass Lake?

38% of Grass Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1954.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.

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