Holly Township’s post office opened in 1861, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #231 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 22 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1860.
From Holly Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Holly Township began
When was Holly Township founded?
1861
The Holly Township post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Holly Mills (1851), Stony Run (1867) and South Grand Blanc (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 542 in 18602020 census: 12,006165 years
How historic is Holly Township?
B+
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Holly Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Holly Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holly Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #231 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Holly 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 Holly Township’s 19.6 sits above most of its state (87% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 24 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Holly Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Holly Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Holly Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Holly is a village in north Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The population was 5,997 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Holly Township. It is about 15 miles (24 km) south of Flint and 55 miles (89 km) northwest of Detroit.
Its first post office opened in 1861. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 11,362 to 12,006 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Holly Township, 1851 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Holly Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Holly 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 Holly 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.
Retake this viewStone Bridge over the Shiawassee River at Holly, Michigan, not later than 1912, 1912
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Holly Township’s page.
The Holly Township post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Holly Township rank for history?
Holly Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #231 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.
What is on the National Register in Holly Township?
Three places: the Hirst Hotel (listed 1980), the Downtown Holly Commercial District (1986) and the Holly Union Depot (2000).
How old are the homes in Holly Township?
14% of Holly Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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