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History · Lake Township

14% of Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 7 old photos and papers and maps from 1963 on.

0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Lake Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lake Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Kells
1895–1895
Koss
1896–1913
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KellsKossLongrie
Gone or out of use
Kells Post Officepost officeKells StationlocaleKoss Post Officepost officeKoss StationlocaleLongrie Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lake Township
Bethesda LutheranLost Lake

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

The story so far

Lake Township, in brief

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

Lake Township is a civil township of Menominee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 501 at the 2020 census, down from 556 in 2010.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 556 to 501 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Lake Township, 1880 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archiveLake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel
  3. 1890In the archiveMoonlight on Lake Michigan
  4. 1895Post officeThe Kells post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Kells post office closes
  6. 1896Post officeThe Koss post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900In the archiveLake Michigan, October
  9. 1910In the archiveLake Michigan, October
  10. 1913Post officeThe Koss post office closes
  11. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lake Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s6 items
Lake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel1880Lake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotelFort Sheridan, Ill1880Fort Sheridan, IllMoonlight on Lake Michigan1890Moonlight on Lake MichiganJuneau Park and Lake Michigan, Milwaukee1890Juneau Park and Lake Michigan, MilwaukeeLake Michigan, October1900Lake Michigan, OctoberJuneau Park and Lake Michigan, Milwaukee1900Juneau Park and Lake Michigan, Milwaukee
1910s1 item
Lake Michigan, October1910Lake Michigan, October
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Lake Township on the map, 1963 to 1982

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

Lake Township on the 1963 USGS mapLake Township on the 1982 USGS map1963Wausaukee 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 Lake 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.

Lake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel
Retake this viewLake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lake Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Lake Township

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

See all →
Lyle MaysAmerican jazz musician · b. 1953
A
Arthur GardnerProducer and actor from the United States · b. 1910
Tom PetriAmerican politician · b. 1940
John HubleyAmerican animation director, art director, prod… · b. 1914
Mitzi ShoreAmerican comedy club owner · b. 1930
John A. GronouskiAmerican diplomat · b. 1919
Help out

Finish Lake Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Holmes TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStephenson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMellen TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Lake Township’s history

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 the Library of Congress (7), 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.