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History · Lake Township

1 of Lake Township’s places is on the National Register

Most of Lake Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1956 on.

1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
6old 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 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Aral
1883–1904
Edgewater
1888–1910
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AralChimney Corners ResortEdgewaterOberlin
Gone or out of use
Aral Post Officepost officeBenzie State ParkparkEdgewater Post Officepost office

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 Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 694 at the 2020 census. The township is irregularly shaped, following the shore of Lake Michigan from Crystal Lake north to the border with Leelanau County. A portion of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is located in the northern end of the township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 759 to 694 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Lake Township, 1858 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858BuiltPoint Betsie Light Station is built
  3. 1880In the archiveLake Gogebic, Michigan, the hotel
  4. 1883Post officeThe Aral post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Edgewater post office opens
  6. 1890In the archiveMoonlight on Lake Michigan
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900In the archiveLake Michigan, October
  9. 1904Post officeThe Aral post office closes
  10. 1910Post officeThe Edgewater post office closes
  11. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lake Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. 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
1910s–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, 1956 to 1983

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 1956 USGS mapLake Township on the 1983 USGS map1956Frankfort 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
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lake 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
1984
Point Betsie Light Station
Point Betsie Light Station, built 1858
Buildings
Point Betsie Light StationBuilt 1858

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

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 →
S
Sam SlyfieldSound engineer · b. 1898
Liz MoeggenbergAmerican basketball player · b. 1984
P
Paul EdingerPlayer of American football · b. 1978
James D. HittleAmerican military officer · b. 1915
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
1 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.

Crystal Downs Country Club1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBenzonia Township3 historic placesBPlatte TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrystal Lake TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Lake Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Lake Township?

One place: the Point Betsie Light Station (listed 1984).

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 (6), 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.