Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the G. W. Jones House and the Carroll and Bessie E. (Caul) Jones House. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1915 on.
The Marcellus Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marcellus Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Marcellus Township’s 9.2 sits above most of its state (82% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marcellus Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Marcellus Township.
The first settler in the Marcellus area was John Bair, who came in October 1832. He was followed almost a year later by Daniel Driskel, in 1833. In 1835, 11 other families settled in Marcellus, and by 1836, 28 families had settled there.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Marcellus Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Marcellus Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Marcellus Township is more historic than 71% 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.
Two places: the G. W. Jones House (listed 1994) and the Carroll and Bessie E. (Caul) Jones House (1997).
26% of Marcellus Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1971.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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