Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hersey Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
CHistory
History · Hersey Township

Hersey Township’s post office opened in 1868, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1959 on, and the census since 1880.

1868first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hersey Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hersey Township began

When was Hersey Township founded?

1868

The Hersey Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1869.

First census: 472 in 18802020 census: 1,941158 years

How historic is Hersey Township?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hersey Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1869.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hersey Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hersey Township is more historic than 34% 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 Hersey Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1868, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.1% of homes (±3.4) · 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 34%
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 Hersey 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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1869 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Hersey Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hersey Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPlat book of Osceola County, Michigan: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hersey Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hersey Township.

Read it all →

Hersey is a small rural community that started as a lumber town in the early 19th century and was a major supplier of lumber to the Muskegon Lumber Yards and played an important role in rebuilding Chicago after the great fire. It was founded by Delos A. Blodgett, a banker, lumber baron, and philanthropist. His family was a major benefactor in the Grand Rapids area via the Blodgett Hospital and the Grand Rapids Home for Kids.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hersey Township, 1868 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Hersey post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archivePlat book of Osceola County, Michigan
  5. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hersey Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Plat book of Osceola County, Michigan1900Plat book of Osceola County, Michigan
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Hersey, Michigan (July 2026)2026Hersey, Michigan (July 2026)Hersey, MI post office2026Hersey, MI post officeCongregational Church (Hersey, MI)2026Congregational Church (Hersey, MI)Hersey Congrational Church2015Hersey Congrational ChurchMIMap-doton-Hersey2005MIMap-doton-Hersey
On the map

Hersey Township on the map, 1959 to 1983

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

Hersey Township on the 1959 USGS mapHersey Township on the 1983 USGS map1959Evart 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 Hersey Township.

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.

Plat book of Osceola County, Michigan
Retake this viewPlat book of Osceola County, Michigan, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hersey Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hersey Township, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 472

Between 202 and 472 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Hersey
Gone or out of use
Hersey MinemineHersey Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hersey Township
OakdaleProctor Family

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Richmond TownshipIts storyC+Cedar TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEvart TownshipIts storyCHerseyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Hersey Township’s history

What year was Hersey Township founded?

The Hersey Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1869.

How does Hersey Township rank for history?

Hersey Township is more historic than 34% 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 Hersey Township?

13% of Hersey Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1984.

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 (6), Wikipedia, 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.