The Lee Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Hoppertown (1875), Lee (1877) and Horseshoe (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,327 in 19602020 census: 3,805149 years
How historic is Lee Township?
C+
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lee Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Lee Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lee Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #436 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 Lee 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 Lee 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 range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Lee Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lee Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lee Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,805 at the 2020 census. The township is rural with the population living mostly around the lakes. A small portion of the Allegan State Game Area is in the township. CSX Transportation has a rail line that goes through the township in a north–south direction. The line also carries Amtrak traffic, but does not stop within the township. No major highways go through Lee Township.
Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,015 to 3,805 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Lee Township, 1875 to 1931
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Lee Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lee Township rank for history?
Lee Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #436 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 Lee Township?
20% of Lee Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
