The Hanover Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Baldwin's Mills (1854), Baldwin's (1871) and Stony Point (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 300 in 18802020 census: 3,662189 years
How historic is Hanover Township?
A
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hanover Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Hanover Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hanover Township is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #45 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hanover 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 Hanover Township’s 62.7 sits above most of its state (92% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 23 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.7 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 Hanover 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 Hanover Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hanover is a village in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Hanover had a population of 472. The village is located within Hanover Township.
Its first post office opened in 1837. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,695 in 2010, 3,662 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hanover Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1948Spring Arbor 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 Hanover Township.
On the National Register
2 listings protect 23 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Hanover Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hanover Township rank for history?
Hanover Township is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #45 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 Hanover Township?
Two places: the Hanover High School Complex (listed 2012) and the Kennedy, Frederick A., Jr., and Caroline Hewett, Farm (2000).
How old are the homes in Hanover Township?
27% of Hanover Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1973.
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), 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.
