The Long Lake Township post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Silver Lake (1864), Cedar Run (1868) and Long Lake (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 9,956153 years
How historic is Long Lake Township?
C−
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Long Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Long Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Long Lake Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #641 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Long Lake 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 Long Lake 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 C. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Long Lake Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Long Lake township area was initially settled in 1862 when Ira Chase and his brother-in-law Eliphalet Fillmore traveled from Whitewater township to Grand Traverse County to select land. The next few years saw the gradual influx of families who cleared forested areas to establish farms. An annual cycle of farming in the summer, logging in the winter, and maple sugaring in the spring began. The end of the Civil War brought additional settlers and in November 1866 a group of men petitioned the Board of Supervisors of Grand Traverse County to form "Viola Township" from Township 27 north, Range 12 west, of old Traverse Township. In January 1867, Long Lake Township was formally organized.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Long Lake Township.
1983Grawn sheet · 1:25,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Long Lake Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Long Lake Township post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Long Lake Township rank for history?
Long Lake Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #641 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 Long Lake Township?
3% of Long Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, 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.
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