Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Henrietta Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Henrietta Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #345 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Henrietta 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 Henrietta 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points). Two sources give 1837.
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 Henrietta Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Henrietta Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1919Rives Junction 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 Henrietta Township.
Jean Baptiste Berard (also spelled Boreaux by descendants) claimed to have settled here in 1816 and had established a trading post in 1831. Nearby Batteese Lake and Batteese Creek were named after him, as his name was also commonly written as "Battise" by other early settlers. The township was organized in 1837 with the name "West Portage". In 1839, Henry Hurd had the town renamed "Henrietta", after his home town of Henrietta, New York. A post office named "Portage" opened on May 21, 1838, with John Davidson as the first postmaster. The name changed to "West Portage" on December 14, 1838, and then to "Henrietta" on May 13, 1840. The post office was discontinued on December 14, 1903. Another post office, named "South Henrietta", opened on September 5, 1851, with Henry Hurd as the first postmaster, and was succeeded by William D. Martin on May 10, 1853. The office continued until December…
In 1837, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Henrietta Township’s post office opened in 1838.
How does Henrietta Township rank for history?
Henrietta Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #345 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 Henrietta Township?
11% of Henrietta Township’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 1977.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
