More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #580 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Kochville Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1967 on.
From Kochville Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Kochville Township began
When was Kochville Township founded?
1892
The Kochville Township post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Phillips (1890), Ohman (1891) and Kochville (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,911134 years
How historic is Kochville Township?
C
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Kochville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Kochville Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kochville Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #580 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Kochville 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 Kochville 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 still be C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 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 Kochville Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Phillips
1890–1892
Ohman
1891–1892
Kochville
1892–1901
Lawndale
1892–1903
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KochvilleLawndaleSaginaw Valley Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Kochville Post Officepost officeLawndale Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kochville Township
Kochville MethodistLawndale Evangelical
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Kochville Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kochville Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kochville Township is a general law township of Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,911 at the 2020 census. It is the home of Saginaw Valley State University.
Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,078 to 4,911 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Kochville Township, 1877 to 1967
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kochville Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Bay City sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kochville Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewKochville Township, MI location
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kochville Township’s page.
The Kochville Township post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kochville Township rank for history?
Kochville Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #580 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 Kochville Township?
9% of Kochville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
Date?
