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History · Lewiston

Lewiston’s post office opened in 1892

Most of Lewiston was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 2000.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lewiston’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lewiston began

When was Lewiston founded?

1892

The Lewiston post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 990 in 20002020 census: 996134 years
Founding year: the first Lewiston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lewiston’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,392 in 2010; 996 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lewiston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lewiston’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPhotograph of: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lewiston, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40020002020Peak: 1,392

Peaked at 1,392 in 2010; 996 people lived here in 2020.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lewiston’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Lewiston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lewiston.

Read it all →

The Lewiston post office first opened on April 25, 1892. The Lewiston Area Historical Society Museum is in an 1892 original Lewiston home. It was first owned by David Kneeland, who was the manager of the Michelson & Hanson Lumber Company; his family lived in Lewiston from 1892 to 1910. When the mill closed, Kneeland sold the dwelling to George and Martha Sachs, who then expanded some of the town's boundaries, defining what they are today. Lewiston is also known as Timber Town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lewiston, 1903 to 2010

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903In the archiveMap of Lewiston, Michigan (1903)
  3. 1916In the archivePhotograph of
  4. 1946In the archiveLewiston Mi 1940 interior
  5. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,392
By decade

Lewiston, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1940s3 items
Map of Lewiston, Michigan (1903)1903Map of Lewiston, Michigan (1903)MapPhotograph of1916Photograph ofLewiston Mi 1940 interior1946Lewiston Mi 1940 interior
1950s–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
Today3 recent
Congregational United Church of Christ (Michigan)2025Congregational United Church of Christ (Michigan)Congregational United Church of Christ (Michigan) historic marker2025Congregational United Church of Christ (Michigan) his…Albert Township, MI2025Albert Township, MI
On the map

Lewiston on the map, 1949 to 1950

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

Lewiston on the 1949 USGS mapLewiston on the 1950 USGS map1949Lewiston 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 Lewiston.

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.

Photograph of
Retake this viewPhotograph of, 1916

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Lewiston’s history

What year was Lewiston founded?

The Lewiston post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.