Half of Harrison Township’s homes were built after 1980
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #668 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Harrison Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1929 on and old-book passages.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrison Township is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #668 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harrison 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 Harrison 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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size.
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 Harrison 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 Harrison Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Harrison Charter Township is a charter township of Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 24,314 at the 2020 census. Harrison Township was formed in 1827 in the Michigan Territory along the shores of Lake St. Clair. The township became a charter township in 1978.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 24,587 in 2010, 24,314 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Harrison Township in 1882
Passages that mention Harrison Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Macomb County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources...churches, schools and societies1882 · page 889Read the page →
Read the text
Harrison Township, as erected under legislative enactment, April 12, 1827, comprised all the country between the county line of Macomb and St. Clair, on the town line between Town 4, Range 13, and Town 4, in Range 14, running south to the lake, near the farm of Joseph Sansf aeon, so as to include his farm in the town of Clinton, which includes Towns 4, 3 and a part of 2, in Range 14, was named Harrison, and the first town meeting was ordered to be held at the house of Charles Peltier, Jr., the last Monday in May, 1827.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Macomb County, Michigan, containing ... biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers1882Read the page →
Read the text
This record of progress is very conciliating: but yet much remains to be done The first, and perhaps most important, work in which the city could engage, is that of laying down a wooden pavement from the Grand Trunk Railroad depot to the public s(piare, round the square itself, and thence easterly to the line of Harrison Township. The condition of the public thoroughfares of Mt. Clemens from November, 1881, to the beginning of the summer of 1882 was. to say the least, one which might characterize a village of the last centmy. The winter was a very exceptional one indeed. Throughout Macomb County, the atmosphere seemed to shower down mud, and when the atmospheric phenom-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Macomb County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources...churches, schools and societies1882 · page 565Read the page →
Read the text
This record of progress is very conciliating; but yet much remains to be done The first, and perhaps most important, work in which the city could engage, is that of laying down a wooden pavement from the Grand Trunk Kailroad depot to the public square, round the square itself, and thence easterly to the line of Harrison Township. The condition of the public thoroughfares of Mt. Clemens from November, 1881, to the beginning of the summer of 1882 was, to say the least, one which might characterize a village of the last century. The winter was a very exceptional one indeed. Throughout Macomb County, the atmosphere seemed to shower down mud, and when the atmospheric phenom-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Harrison Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1929Mt Clemens 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 Harrison Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Harrison Township
Nobody well known was born in Harrison Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Harrison Township is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #668 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.
How old are the homes in Harrison Township?
4% of Harrison Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
