1 of Grayling Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #496 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Hartwick, Edward E., Memorial Building. Most of Grayling Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1910.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grayling Township is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #496 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Grayling 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 Grayling Township’s 1.7 sits above most of its state (68% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Grayling Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Michael Shoat Hartwick was Grayling's first settler. On the west side of the railroad tracks, he built a log hotel. The railroad platted out 40 acres (where Grayling now stands), naming it "Crawford". Fish swimming in the river were identified as grayling, and it is said that the residents preferred the name "Grayling" to "Crawford," and renamed the area after the fish.
Grayling's access to two major rivers (Au Sable River and Manistee River), and the presence of the vast forest around it, made it important in the lumber era. Logs were floated down the rivers to the lakes.
Grayling has had other names through the years. It was called "AuSable", "Forest", "Crawford Station", and during the lumbering era "Milltown".
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grayling Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Grayling 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 Grayling Township.
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 viewPhotograph of Hardwood Logs at Mill in, 1910
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grayling Township’s page.
Grayling Township is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #496 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.
What is on the National Register in Grayling Township?
One place: the Hartwick, Edward E., Memorial Building (listed 1998).
How old are the homes in Grayling Township?
3% of Grayling Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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