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C+History
History · Keeler Township

Keeler Township’s post office opened in 1892, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1927 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Compiled from official records and local inspection by W.H. Goss, County Surveyor. Drawn by M.K. Orton. · Public domain
Quick answers

How Keeler Township began

When was Keeler Township founded?

1892

The Keeler Township post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Keelersville (1835), Sister Lakes (1877) and Keeler (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,968134 years

How historic is Keeler Township?

C+

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Keeler Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Keeler Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Keeler Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Keeler Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1892, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194022.0% of homes (±5.3) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%
NewerOlder

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 Keeler 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 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 Keeler 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 Keeler Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Keeler Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Keeler Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keeler Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keeler 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

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

Keelersville
1835–1892
Sister Lakes
1877–1957
Keeler
1892–1911
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KeelerSister LakesWoodland Beach
Gone or out of use
Keeler Post Officepost officeSister Lakes Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Keeler Township
Keeler

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

The story

How Keeler Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keeler Township.

Read it all →

In 1964, the Sister Lakes area gained national notoriety when an area resident reported seeing a Bigfoot-like creature. ABC News filed a report after hearing about monster hunters congregating in the area following the claimed sighting. In 2023, a new town hall was built. Before that, all township government business was conducted in an open room inside the Keeler Fire Department building.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Keeler Township, 1835 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Post officeThe Keelersville post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Sister Lakes post office opens
  4. 1892Born hereErnie Koob is born here
  5. 1892Post officeThe Keelersville post office closes
  6. 1892Post officeThe Keeler post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1911Post officeThe Keeler post office closes
  9. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1957Post officeThe Sister Lakes post office closes
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Keeler Township on the map, 1927 to 1981

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

Keeler Township on the 1927 USGS mapKeeler Township on the 1931 USGS mapKeeler Township on the 1981 USGS map1927Hartford 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 Keeler Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hamilton TownshipIts storyBSilver Creek TownshipIts storyBHartford TownshipIts storyC+Bainbridge TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Keeler Township’s history

What year was Keeler Township founded?

The Keeler Township post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Keeler Township rank for history?

Keeler Township is more historic than 44% 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.

How old are the homes in Keeler Township?

22% of Keeler Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1960.

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).

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.