Its Register listings are the Chief Andrew J. Blackbird House, the Shay Complex and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Harbor Springs Depot. Its Register listings are the Chief Andrew J. Blackbird House, the Shay Complex and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Harbor Springs Depot. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harbor Springs is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harbor Springs’ 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 Harbor Springs’ 46.0 sits above most of its state (90% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±5.4 points).
Founding year: the first census (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 Harbor Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Harbor Springs, census by census
Peaked at 1,805 in 1910; 1,274 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harbor Springs’ Wikipedia page.
The European-American settlement started with a mission by French Catholic Jesuits; they called this area L'Arbre Croche, meaning Crooked Tree. In 1847, L'Arbre Croche had the largest concentration of Native Americans in Michigan. French traders renamed the area Petit Traverse, or Little Crossing, when they arrived in the area. After more settlers came from the eastern United States, they changed the name of the village from Little Traverse to Harbor Springs upon its incorporation in 1881.
The federally recognized Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians are descendants of the numerous Odawa bands that occupied this area. They have their tribal offices in Harbor Springs and a gaming resort in Petoskey.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings 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 Harbor Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Petoskey 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 Harbor Springs.
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 viewHarbor Springs LOC det.4a07868, 1890
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Harbor Springs’ page.
The Harbor Springs post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Harbor Springs rank for history?
Harbor Springs is more historic than 76% 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.
What is on the National Register in Harbor Springs?
Three places: the Chief Andrew J. Blackbird House (listed 1972), the Shay Complex (1972) and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Harbor Springs Depot (2000).
How old are the homes in Harbor Springs?
26% of Harbor Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1898
1898
1901
c. 1906
1906
2011
2011
2009
2006
