The Kearney Township post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Kearney (1876) and Keno (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,780150 years
How historic is Kearney Township?
B−
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Kearney Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Kearney Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kearney Township is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kearney 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 Kearney Township’s 5.2 sits above most of its state (76% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 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 Kearney Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Kearney
1876–1883
Keno
1879–1880
Bellaire
1880–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Bellaire StationlocaleHitchcock Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kearney Township
BrydenFlewellingMorey
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Kearney Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kearney Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kearney Township is a civil township of Antrim County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,780 at the 2020 census. A portion of the village of Bellaire is located within the township.
Its first post office opened in 1876. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,765 in 2010, 1,780 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Kearney Township, 1876 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kearney Township.
1956Mancelona 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 Kearney Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Kearney Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Kearney Township post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kearney Township rank for history?
Kearney Township is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Kearney Township?
One place: the Antrim County Courthouse (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Kearney Township?
10% of Kearney Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
