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C−History
History · Heath Township

Half of Heath Township’s homes were built after 1994

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #634 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Heath Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1960.

0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

About Heath Township’s history

How historic is Heath Township?

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More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Heath Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Heath Township is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #634 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Heath Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 10%

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 Heath 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).

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 Heath Township’s past

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

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rabbit River
1851–1852
Sink Brook
1861–1864
Rabbitt River
1864–1870
Dunningville
1870–1937
Hamilton
1870–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DunningvilleHamiltonRiverview Mobile Home ParkShady Acres Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Dunningville Post Officepost officeDunningville StationlocaleHamilton Landing Stripairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Heath Township
BrooksideDowdRiverside

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

Help out

Start Heath Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story so far

Heath Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Heath Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Heath Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 3,937.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,317 to 3,937 (+19%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Heath Township, 1851 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Rabbit River post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Rabbit River post office closes
  4. 1861Post officeThe Sink Brook post office opens
  5. 1864Post officeThe Sink Brook post office closes
  6. 1864Post officeThe Rabbitt River post office opens
  7. 1870Post officeThe Rabbitt River post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Heath Township on the map, 1958 to 1981

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

Heath Township on the 1958 USGS mapHeath Township on the 1981 USGS map1958Allegan 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 Heath Township.

People over time

Heath Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00019601980200020203,937

Grew from 1,283 people in 1960 to 3,937 in 2020, 3 times over.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Heath Township

Nobody well known was born in Heath Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Heath Township’s history

How does Heath Township rank for history?

Heath Township is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #634 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 Heath Township?

6% of Heath Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1994.

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 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.