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A−History
History · Leonidas Township

Leonidas Township dates to 1846, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1918 on.

1846founded
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Leonidas Township began

When was Leonidas Township founded?

1846

Leonidas Township dates its founding to 1846 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1836.

2020 census: 1,161180 years

How historic is Leonidas Township?

A−

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Leonidas Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leonidas Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Leonidas Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1846, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194036.1% of homes (±9.5) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
NewerOlder

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 Leonidas 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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.5 points). Two sources give 1846.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Leonidas Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Leonidas Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Leonidas Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19184 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1982. Watch Leonidas Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1846: 180 years of Leonidas Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leonidas Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leonidas 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
Places that used to be

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

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

Fort Pleasant
1836–1850
Leonidas
1850–today
Reserve
1850–1854
Grant
1864–1898
Slayton
1898–1902
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FactoryvilleLeonidas
Gone or out of use
Factoryville StationlocaleLeonidas StationlocaleLevel Acres Landing StripairportSlayton Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Leonidas Township
BantaBeardFactoryvilleLeonidasMcAuley

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

On the map

Leonidas Township on the map, 1918 to 1982

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

Leonidas Township on the 1918 USGS mapLeonidas Township on the 1944 USGS mapLeonidas Township on the 1950 USGS mapLeonidas Township on the 1982 USGS map1918Leonidas 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 Leonidas Township.

The story

How Leonidas Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leonidas Township.

Read it all →

Settlers from New York came here in 1831. James and Robert Cowen built a mill along Nottawa Creek in this township in 1832 at a site called Cowen's Mills. The village of Leonidas was platted in 1846.

Another place called Factoryville was established around a sawmill on Nottawa Creek in 1839. A woolen factory was added to this site in 1842. It had a post office from 1888 until 1907.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leonidas Township, 1836 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836Post officeThe Fort Pleasant post office opens
  3. 1846
    FoundingLeonidas Township is established
  4. 1850Post officeThe Fort Pleasant post office closes
  5. 1850Post officeThe Leonidas post office opens
  6. 1850Post officeThe Reserve post office opens
  7. 1851Born hereGeorge L. Yaple is born here
  8. 1854Post officeThe Reserve post office closes
  9. 20th century
  10. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mendon Township2 historic placesAColon Township1 historic placeAWakeshma TownshipIts storyB−Sherwood TownshipIts storyB+Brady Township1 historic placeB+

Questions about Leonidas Township’s history

What year was Leonidas Township founded?

In 1846, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Leonidas Township’s post office opened in 1836.

How does Leonidas Township rank for history?

Leonidas Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. 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 Leonidas Township?

36% of Leonidas Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1960.

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).

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.