From Hamilton Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Hamilton Township began
When was Hamilton Township founded?
1841
The Hamilton Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hamilton (1841) and Corwin (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,370185 years
How historic is Hamilton Township?
B
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hamilton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Hamilton Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamilton Township is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hamilton 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 Hamilton 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Hamilton Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hamilton Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hamilton Township is a civil township of Van Buren County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 1,370. The township is mostly agricultural with no towns. There are some private campgrounds and cottages at Lake-of-the-Woods. Hamilton Township was organized in 1839.
Its first post office opened in 1841. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,489 to 1,370 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hamilton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927Hartford 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 Hamilton 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 viewThirty-Sixth Street Bridge, Spanning Rabbit River
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hamilton Township’s page.
The Hamilton Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hamilton Township rank for history?
Hamilton Township is more historic than 64% 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 Hamilton Township?
21% of Hamilton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
Date?
