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CHistory
History · Harrison

Harrison dates to 1877, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1880.

1877founded
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Harrison began

When was Harrison founded?

1877

Harrison dates its founding to 1877 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 129 in 18802020 census: 2,150149 years

How historic is Harrison?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Harrison’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrison is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harrison’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.2% of homes (±4.4) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder

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’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 C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points). Two sources give 1877.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Harrison’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Harrison are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1890 and 1920, then grew 5-fold.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1890 to 1900, drew every building in Harrison.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harrison’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Harrison’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Harrison, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020752 in 1890Low: 399

Lost half of its people between 1890 and 1920, then grew 5-fold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harrison’s Wikipedia page.

Every building

Harrison, building by building, 1890–1900

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.

Harrison fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Harrison came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harrison.

Read it all →

Harrison was first designated as the new centralized location of the county seat of Clare County in 1877. It would become a replacement for Farwell, which was the first county seat when Clare County was formally organized in 1871. The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad platted the village in 1879 and set aside property for a new county government after the previous courthouse in Farwell burned down. The Harrison post office opened on January 27, 1880 and was named after former president William Henry Harrison. The new community incorporated as a village in 1885 and later as a city in 1891.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Harrison, 1877 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877
    FoundingHarrison is established
  3. 1880Post officeThe Harrison post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,150
By decade

Harrison, decade by decade

Today13 recent
Harrison, MI post office2022Harrison, MI post officeHarrison, MI library2022Harrison, MI libraryHarrison, MI fire department2022Harrison, MI fire departmentHarrison, MI downtown 20222022Harrison, MI downtown 2022Harrison, MI city hall2022Harrison, MI city hallHarrison, MI welcome sign2020Harrison, MI welcome signMid Michigan Community College2018Mid Michigan Community CollegeCyclocybe erebia 8449892017Cyclocybe erebia 844989William Henry Wilson House2014William Henry Wilson House2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookBudd Lake2008Budd LakeBoats on Budd Lake2008Boats on Budd LakeMIMap-doton-Harrison2005MIMap-doton-Harrison
On the map

Harrison on the map, 1957 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harrison. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Harrison on the 1957 USGS mapHarrison on the 1983 USGS map1957Harrison 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.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Harrison’s post office has been open since 1880.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Harrison Mobile Home Estates
Gone or out of use
Harrison Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Harrison
Maple GroveSaint Athanasius

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Harrison’s history

What year was Harrison founded?

In 1877, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Harrison’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1880 counted 129 people here.

How does Harrison rank for history?

Harrison is more historic than 30% 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 Harrison?

10% of Harrison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (13), 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.