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C−History
History · Luna Pier

Luna Pier’s post office opened in 1930, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1970.

1930first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Luna Pier began

When was Luna Pier founded?

1930

The Luna Pier post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,418 in 19702020 census: 1,38296 years

How historic is Luna Pier?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Luna Pier post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Luna Pier’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Luna Pier is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Luna Pier’s overall grade.
Founding era1930, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194016.0% of homes (±6.5) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 24%
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 Luna Pier’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 D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 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 Luna Pier’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 Luna Pier are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19126 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1979. Watch Luna Pier change.Old housesHalf of Luna Pier’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Luna Pier’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Luna Pier’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
On the map

Luna Pier on the map, 1912 to 1979

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

Luna Pier on the 1912 USGS mapLuna Pier on the 1936 USGS mapLuna Pier on the 1943 USGS mapLuna Pier on the 1952 USGS mapLuna Pier on the 1967 USGS mapLuna Pier on the 1979 USGS map1912Monroe 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 Luna Pier.

The story so far

Luna Pier, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Luna Pier yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Luna Pier is a city in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,382 at the 2020 census. Previously known as Lakewood, it was established in the early 1900s and incorporated as a city in 1963. Its most prominent feature is a large crescent-shaped pier made of concrete, approximately 800 ft (240 m) long and reaching around 200 feet (61 m) out into Lake Erie. The pier is flanked by sandy beaches and man-made rock and concrete embankments. On most days, the Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and the Toledo Harbor Light can be seen from the pier. The city is served by Mason Consolidated Schools.

Its first post office opened in 1930. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,436 to 1,382 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Luna Pier, 1912 to 1973

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1930Post officeThe Luna Pier post office opens
  4. 1973Post officeThe Luna Pier post office closes
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
People over time

Luna Pier, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600198020002020Peak: 1,507

Between 1,382 and 1,507 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Luna Pier

Nobody well known was born in Luna Pier itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Katie HolmesAmerican actress · b. 1978
Adrianne PalickiAmerican actress · b. 1983
Alyson StonerAmerican actor, singer and dancer · b. 1993
Anita BakerAmerican singer · b. 1958
Lyman SpitzerAmerican astronomer · b. 1914
P
Philip Baker HallAmerican actor · b. 1931
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Luna Pier had its own post office from 1930 to 1973.

Luna Pier
1930–1973
19301980today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Erie TownshipIts storyBLa Salle TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Luna Pier’s history

What year was Luna Pier founded?

The Luna Pier post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Luna Pier rank for history?

Luna Pier is more historic than 24% 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 Luna Pier?

16% of Luna Pier’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1959.

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 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.