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History · Howell Township

2 of Howell Township’s places are on the National Register

Its Register listings are the Frank J. Hecox House and the George Louk Farm. Most of Howell Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listings are the Frank J. Hecox House and the George Louk Farm. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1850.

2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Howell 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.On the map since 19073 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1975. Watch Howell Township change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Howell Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Howell Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Howell 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 viewDzia: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Howell Township on the map, 1907 to 1975

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

Howell Township on the 1907 USGS mapHowell Township on the 1968 USGS mapHowell Township on the 1975 USGS map1907Howell 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 Howell Township.

Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Fleming, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Burkhart Ridge Mobile Home ParkFairlawn Estates Mobile Home ParkFleming
Gone or out of use
Fleming Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Howell Township
PioneerWest Howell

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

The story

How Howell Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Howell Township.

Read it all →

The City of Howell is the county seat of Livingston County. On 24 March 1836, the legislature passed an act organizing Livingston County. Howell was slated to become the county seat, but the newly established Brighton nearby claimed the seat for the next 12 years.

January 1836 saw the establishment of the first post office in Howell. Flavius J. B. Crane was postmaster, and the post office was in the Eagle Tavern. In March of this same year, there was a mail route started in the village of Kensington that went through Howell until ending in Grand Rapids. The pioneer manufacturing enterprise of Howell was a sawmill built in 1836, soon followed by a blacksmith shop.

Chapters19th century20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Howell Township, 1842 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1842Post officeThe Fleming post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Fleming post office closes
  5. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1990In the archiveDzia
By decade

Howell Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Dzia1990Dzia
Today5 recent
GallowayHouseHowellMI2011GallowayHouseHowellMIFrank J. Hecox House Historic Site Howell Michigan2011Frank J. Hecox House Historic Site Howell MichiganChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1041 W Grand River Avenue ,Howell, Michigan2011Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1041 W G…Central Fire Station, 1211 West Grand River Avenue, Howell, Michigan2011Central Fire Station, 1211 West Grand River Avenue, H…DziaCrop2000DziaCrop
On the National Register

2 historic places in Howell Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Frank J. Hecox House
Frank J. Hecox HouseGeorge Louk Farm
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Second Empire Revival1
Italianate1
Board and Batten1
Frank J. Hecox HouseSecond Empire Revival
George Louk FarmItalianate

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Howell Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000185019001950200010,068

Grew from 473 people in 1850 to 10,068 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Howell5 historic placesAOceola TownshipIts storyC−Cohoctah TownshipIts storyB−Handy TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Howell Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Howell Township?

Two places: the Frank J. Hecox House (listed 1994) and the George Louk Farm (1995).

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.