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B−History
History · Kinderhook Township

Kinderhook Township’s post office opened in 1843

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Kinderhook Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977.

1843first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kinderhook Township began

When was Kinderhook Township founded?

1843

The Kinderhook Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Kinderhook (1843), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,427183 years

How historic is Kinderhook Township?

B−

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Kinderhook Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kinderhook Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kinderhook Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1843, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19407.2% of homes (±3.2) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C+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 46%
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 Kinderhook 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 (±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 Kinderhook 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 Kinderhook Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Kinderhook Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1843: 183 years of Kinderhook Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kinderhook Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kinderhook 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

Another post office, Kinderhook, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Canada ShoresKinderhookWest Kinderhook
Gone or out of use
Kinderhook Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kinderhook Township
KnaussMundayWaterhouse

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

The story so far

Kinderhook Township, in brief

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

Kinderhook Township is a civil township of Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 1,427.

Its first post office opened in 1843. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,497 to 1,427 (-5%).

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

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
Famous people

Famous people close to Kinderhook Township

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

See all →
J
John BarnesAmerican science fiction writer · b. 1957
Lois Irene Kimsey28th Second Lady of the United States · b. 1873
H
Hagood HardyCanadian composer · b. 1937
J
J. Walter YeagleyAmerican judge · b. 1909
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Gilead TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCalifornia TownshipIts storyB−Ovid TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Kinderhook Township’s history

What year was Kinderhook Township founded?

The Kinderhook Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Kinderhook Township rank for history?

Kinderhook Township is more historic than 46% 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 Kinderhook Township?

7% of Kinderhook 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 1977.

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 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.