On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Melrose Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Melrose 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 Melrose Township’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Melrose 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.
Clarion
1879–1945
Walloon
1883–1884
Talcott
1897–1900
Walloon Lake
1900–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClarionWalloon Lake
Gone or out of use
Clarion Post Officepost officeMelrose Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Melrose Township
DuncanDunkardMaple Hill
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Melrose Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Melrose Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Melrose Township is a civil township of Charlevoix County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,405 at the 2020 census. The township was set off from Evangeline Township by the County Board of Supervisors in 1877.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,403 in 2010, 1,405 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Melrose Township, 1879 to 1945
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Melrose Township is more historic than 37% 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 Melrose Township?
14% of Melrose Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 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.
