Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Greendale Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1890.
The Greendale Township post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Greendale (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greendale Township is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls 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 Greendale 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: 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 →
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 Greendale Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Greendale Township.
In 1875 Col. William L. Sterns and other men from Berea, Ohio, platted a place in the township called "Central City". The effort to form this city failed and the area is now known as Oil City.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings 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 Greendale 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 Greendale Township.
Between 151 and 1,788 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greendale Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Greendale Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Greendale, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Greendale Township post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Greendale Township is more historic than 10% 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.
3% of Greendale Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 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 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.
