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History · Holmes Township

Holmes Township’s post office opened in 1884, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1963 on.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Holmes Township began

When was Holmes Township founded?

1884

The Holmes Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Holmes (1884), Nathan (1895) and Wittmund (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 341142 years
Founding year: the first Holmes Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Holmes Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Holmes Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Holmes Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Holmes
1884–1886
Nathan
1895–1940
Wittmund
1895–1895
Swanson
1905–1923
Banat
1910–1928
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BanatGardnerNathanSwanson
Gone or out of use
Arnold StationlocaleBanat Post Officepost officeBanat StationlocaleGardner StationlocaleNathan Post Officepost officeNathan StationlocaleSwanson Post Officepost officeSwanson Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Holmes Township
Holy Rosary Catholic ChurchSwedish Methodist

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

Help out

Start Holmes Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holmes Township’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
The story so far

Holmes Township, in brief

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

Holmes Township is a civil township of Menominee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 341 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1884. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 335 in 2010, 341 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Holmes Township, 1884 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Holmes post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Holmes post office closes
  4. 1895Post officeThe Nathan post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Wittmund post office opens
  6. 1895Post officeThe Wittmund post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1940Post officeThe Nathan post office closes
  9. 1963On 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

Holmes Township on the map, 1963 to 1989

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

Holmes Township on the 1963 USGS mapHolmes Township on the 1989 USGS map1963Powers 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 Holmes Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Holmes Township

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

See all →
Lyle MaysAmerican jazz musician · b. 1953
Art Van DammeAmerican musician · b. 1920
J
James GustafsonAmerican academic · b. 1925
John A. GronouskiAmerican diplomat · b. 1919
J
Judy NeratAmerican politician · b. 1948
R
Robert KendallAmerican actor · b. 1927
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Nadeau TownshipIts storyB−Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFaithorn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDaggett TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Holmes Township’s history

What year was Holmes Township founded?

The Holmes Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.