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History · Laird Township

Laird Township’s post office opened in 1887, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Saint Henry's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery. Below: maps from 1954 on.

1887first post office
1on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Laird Township began

When was Laird Township founded?

1887

The Laird Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Seven smaller post offices, Laird (1887), Brotherton (1889) and Pori (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 487139 years
Founding year: the first Laird Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Laird Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages7 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Laird Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Laird Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Laird Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Laird
1887–1902
Brotherton
1889–1896
Pori
1889–1904
New Home
1891–1893
Silver
1898–1929
Alston
1902–1957
Nisula
1903–today
Plato
1910–1933
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlstonFrostHazelNisulaPoriWhite
Gone or out of use
Alston Post Officepost officeBrotherton Post Officepost officeBrotherton StationlocaleNew Home Post Officepost officeNew Home StationlocalePlato Post Officepost officeSilver Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Laird Township
AlstonNisula Lutheran

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

Help out

Start Laird Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Laird 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
The story so far

Laird Township, in brief

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

Laird Township is a civil township of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 487 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 555 to 487 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Laird Township, 1887 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Laird post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Brotherton post office opens
  4. 1889Post officeThe Pori post office opens
  5. 1896Post officeThe Brotherton post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Laird post office closes
  8. 1904Post officeThe Pori post office closes
  9. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Laird Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Entering Nisula on M-38 westbound2017Entering Nisula on M-38 westboundD4 C13 Stand 6 opening2013D4 C13 Stand 6 openingBlocky boulder2012Blocky boulderFrost2007Frost
On the map

Laird Township on the map, 1954 to 1999

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

Laird Township on the 1954 USGS mapLaird Township on the 1982 USGS mapLaird Township on the 1999 USGS map1954Rousseau 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 Laird Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Laird Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2013
Saint Henry's Evangelical Lutheran Church and C…
Saint Henry's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery
Buildings
Saint Henry's Evangelical Lutheran Church and CemeteryBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Laird Township

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

See all →
Cora Reynolds AndersonAmerican politician · b. 1882
Frank Eugene HookAmerican politician · b. 1893
Sheila E. HixsonAmerican politician · b. 1933
Bernard Francis SligerAmerican economist · b. 1924
J
Jim ManningAmerican baseball player · b. 1943
T
Thomas J. BrownAmerican episcopal bishop · b. 1970
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Baraga Township3 historic placesABohemia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDuncan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElm River TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPortage TownshipIts storyB+Stannard TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Laird Township’s history

What year was Laird Township founded?

The Laird Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Laird Township?

One place: the Saint Henry's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery (listed 2013).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), 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.