More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #613 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Marysville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1920.
The Marysville post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1919. Two smaller post offices, Mack's Place (1849) and Vicksburgh (1855), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 941 in 19202020 census: 9,997168 years
How historic is Marysville?
C−
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Marysville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1919.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Marysville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marysville is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #613 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marysville’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 Marysville’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 (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1919.
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 Marysville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Marysville traces its history back to 1786 when Antoin Morass built a sawmill at Bunce Creek. Later, in 1817, Zephaniah W. Bunce sailed up the St. Clair River and settled at the place of the mill, naming it Bunce Creek. This would later become the property of the Detroit Edison Marysville Power Plant. He later became postmaster and a member of the Michigan Territorial Council.
Meanwhile, two businessmen, Meldrum & Park, founded a sawmill in 1792 at the location now known as Cuttle Creek. This settlement was located in the southern part of current day Marysville, two streets are named after them.
Passages that mention Marysville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people1912 · page 125Read the page →
Read the text
born in New Hampshire in 1799 and came to this county in 1833. He taught school for some months in each of his first three years here, and in 1835 built a water power saw mill on Pine river in the township of Kimball, and a store at Marysville. Three years later he sold the mill and not long after moved his store to Port Huron, where he entered into partnership with Martin S. Gillett, his nephew. He built a steam saw mill at Port Huron and dealt largely in pine lands and products, and accumulated what was a large fortune in those days before his
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people1912 · page 253Read the page →
Read the text
In addition, there are a number of platted unincorporated villages or settlements, Adair, Avoca, Abbottsford, Brockway, Fargo, Lakeport, Marysville, Ruby, Smith's Creek. In 1836 Milwaukie City was platted upon the site of what was afterwards platted as Lakeport. A settlement in East China was called Hallville, and names have been given to other localities not platted or incorporated, as Grant Center, Jeddo, Riley Center.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Marysville, 1849 to 1989
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Marysville post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1919.
How does Marysville rank for history?
Marysville is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #613 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 Marysville?
6% of Marysville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1978.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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