The Ida Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Lulu (1880), Willits (1880) and Morocco (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,783182 years
How historic is Ida Township?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ida Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ida Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ida Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #264 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 Ida 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 Ida 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 B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 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 Ida Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Originally, the area served as a stagecoach stopover for travelers from Monroe to Adrian in the early 1800s. In 1825, the Wayside Inn opened as the first business in the area to serve travelers along the treacherous roadway that consisted of very poor Indian trails. All of the first settlers in the area were farmers, who even earned extra money by helping travelers who became stuck in the muddy trails. The Michigan Southern Railroad first constructed railway lines through the area by 1839, which led to the growth of the community. The area also became a very popular deer hunting destination for early settlers.
The Ida Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ida Township rank for history?
Ida Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #264 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 Ida Township?
19% of Ida Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1975.
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.
