Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Lake Ann was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1900.
The Lake Ann post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake Ann’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew 8-fold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Ann’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Ann.
The first family to settle on Lake Ann was the family of Addison P. Wheelock, who name the lake after his wife.
Lake Ann was organized in 1893, and incorporated in 1914. It was once a station on the Manistee and North-Eastern Railroad, which has since been removed.
The Lake Ann Camp, a Christian summer camp, was established just west of Lake Ann in 1948.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Ann. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lake Ann.
Nobody well known was born in Lake Ann itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lake Ann post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
