Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jamestown Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jamestown Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #414 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jamestown 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 Jamestown 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 B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1849.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Jamestown Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Interest in Jamestown Township had its beginning when Grandville on the east and Holland on the west was being settled. Rix Robinson induced people of the east to come this way and the area was covered with a fine forest. Grandville was the central point of settlement and land offices were established there. In 1831, the land was surveyed and labeled as Township 5, Range 13 West.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jamestown Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Grandville 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 Jamestown Township.
Famous people
4 famous people were born in Jamestown Township
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1849, according to Wikidata. Jamestown Township’s post office opened in 1857.
How does Jamestown Township rank for history?
Jamestown Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #414 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 Jamestown Township?
7% of Jamestown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 2005.
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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
