The Masonville Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Masonville (1857), Gena (1861) and Garth (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,645169 years
How historic is Masonville Township?
B
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Masonville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Masonville Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Masonville Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Masonville 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 Masonville Township’s 6.5 sits above most of its state (78% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 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 Masonville Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Masonville
1857–1958
Gena
1861–1866
Rapid River
1888–today
Garth
1894–1907
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GarthMaplewoodMasonvilleRapid RiverWhitefish Hill RV and Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Garth Post Officepost officeMasonville Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Masonville Township
Garth PointMcLeod GraveRapid River
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Masonville Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Masonville Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Masonville Township is a civil township of Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,645 at the 2020 census, down from 1,734 at the 2010 census.
Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,734 to 1,645 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Masonville Township, 1857 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Masonville Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1932Trenary 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 Masonville Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Masonville Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Masonville Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Masonville Township rank for history?
Masonville Township is more historic than 56% 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.
What is on the National Register in Masonville Township?
One place: the County Road I-39-Rapid River Bridge (listed 1999).
How old are the homes in Masonville Township?
14% of Masonville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
