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History · Maple Ridge Township

23% of Maple Ridge Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on.

0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Maple Ridge Township’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Maple Ridge Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Maple Ridge Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · 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.

Lathrop
1873–1945
De Beque
1876–1879
Rock
1886–today
Defiance
1888–1928
Osier
1898–1927
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CampbellLathropOsierRockSaint NicholasTrombly
Gone or out of use
Defiance Post Officepost officeDefiance StationlocaleLathrop Post Officepost officeOsier Post Officepost officeOsier Stationlocale
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Maple Ridge Township
LathropMaple RidgeRockSaint Nicholas

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

Help out

Start Maple Ridge Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maple Ridge 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
The story so far

Maple Ridge Township, in brief

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

Maple Ridge Township is a civil township of Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 694 at the 2020 census, down from 766 at the 2010 census. Maple Ridge Township was named from a hill where sugar maple trees grew.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 766 to 694 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Maple Ridge Township, 1873 to 1945

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Lathrop post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe De Beque post office opens
  4. 1879Post officeThe De Beque post office closes
  5. 1886Post officeThe Rock post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1945Post officeThe Lathrop 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
On the map

Maple Ridge Township on the map, 1932 to 1985

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

Maple Ridge Township on the 1932 USGS mapMaple Ridge Township on the 1958 USGS mapMaple Ridge Township on the 1985 USGS map1932Rock SW sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Maple Ridge Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Maple Ridge Township

Nobody well known was born in Maple Ridge Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Robert John CornellAmerican priest, professor, and politician · b. 1919
F
Frank SmithCartoon animator and film director from the Uni… · b. 1911
G
Greg IvesAmerican NASCAR crew chief · b. 1979
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Baldwin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTurin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEwing TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMasonville Township1 historic placeBLimestone Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Maple Ridge Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.