Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #293 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Hamlin Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1931 on.
Hamlin Township was named in honor of Hannibal Hamlin, 15th vice president of the United States.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamlin Township is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #293 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Hamlin Township’s 13.3 sits above most of its state (85% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Four other post offices 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hamlin Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hamlin Township.
Hamlin Township was organized in 1860. It was named in honor of Hannibal Hamlin, 15th vice president of the United States.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltLake Michigan Beach House, Ludington State Park is builtWeddings 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 Hamlin 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 Hamlin Township.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Hamlin Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Hamlin Township is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #293 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.
Two places: the Lake Michigan Beach House, Ludington State Park (listed 2013) and the Big Sable Point Light Station (1983).
6% of Hamlin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
