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History · Joyfield Township

Joyfield Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Joyfield Township began

When was Joyfield Township founded?

1869

The Joyfield Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Joyfield (1869) and Weldon (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 763157 years
Founding year: the first Joyfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Joyfield 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 writtenNo old photos of Joyfield Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Joyfield Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Joyfield Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Joyfield 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
Places that used to be

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

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

Joyfield
1869–1903
Weldon
1879–1903
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Weldon
Gone or out of use
Joyfield Post Officepost officeWeldon Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Joyfield Township
Joyfield Township

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

The story so far

Joyfield Township, in brief

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

Joyfield Township is a civil township of Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 763 at the 2020 census. The township is located in the south central portion of the county. US 31 and M-115 converge at the northern edge of the township.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 799 to 763 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Joyfield Township, 1869 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Joyfield post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Weldon post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Joyfield post office closes
  6. 1903Post officeThe Weldon post office closes
  7. 1956On 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.
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On the map

Joyfield Township on the map, 1956 to 1983

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

Joyfield Township on the 1956 USGS mapJoyfield Township on the 1983 USGS map1956Frankfort 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 Joyfield Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Joyfield Township

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

See all →
S
Sam SlyfieldSound engineer · b. 1898
P
Paul EdingerPlayer of American football · b. 1978
James D. HittleAmerican military officer · b. 1915
Dora Hall StockmanAmerican writer and lecturer · b. 1872
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Blaine Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBenzonia Township3 historic placesBWeldon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasanton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Joyfield Township’s history

What year was Joyfield Township founded?

The Joyfield Township post office opened in 1869, 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 →
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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.