1 of Gun Plain Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #401 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Its Register listing is the James Noble Sherwood House. Most of Gun Plain Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1960.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gun Plain Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #401 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gun Plain 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 Gun Plain Township’s 1.6 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).
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 Gun Plain Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Silver Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Gun River Mobile EstatesGun River West Mobile Home ParkNeeley
Gone or out of use
Silvercreek Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gun Plain Township
Gun Plains TownshipHillsideIvesWoodside
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Gun Plain Township on the map, 1916 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gun Plain Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Kalamazoo 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 Gun Plain Township.
The first Euro-American settler here was Cyrenius Thompson, who settled here in 1832. On the boundary with Barry County at 106th Avenue, Brouard Post Office opened on March 7, 1884. The Brouard Post Office was renamed Doster on March 3, 1900. The Doster Post Office was downgraded to a branch of the Plainwell Post Office on July 21, 1961. On October 28, 1978, the Doster postal branch was closed.
Gun Plain Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #401 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 Gun Plain Township?
One place: the James Noble Sherwood House (listed 1984).
How old are the homes in Gun Plain Township?
6% of Gun Plain Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 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.
