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AHistory
History · Mendon Township

Mendon Township dates to 1845, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #59 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Marantette House and the Marantette Bridge. Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1860.

1845founded
2on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mendon Township began

When was Mendon Township founded?

1845

Mendon Township dates its founding to 1845 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 409 in 18602020 census: 2,581181 years

How historic is Mendon Township?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Mendon Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mendon Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #59 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mendon Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1845, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194032.4% of homes (±7.0) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 7.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 92%

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 Mendon Township’s 7.8 sits above most of its state (80% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 points). Two sources give 1845.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Mendon Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mendon Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19184 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1982. Watch Mendon Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1845: 181 years of Mendon Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mendon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mendon 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
On the map

Mendon Township on the map, 1918 to 1982

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

Mendon Township on the 1918 USGS mapMendon Township on the 1944 USGS mapMendon Township on the 1950 USGS mapMendon Township on the 1982 USGS map1918Leonidas sheet · 1:62,500

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

Timeline

Mendon Township, 1838 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Park post office opens
  3. 1845
    FoundingMendon Township is established
  4. 1858Post officeThe Mendon post office opens
  5. 1873Post officeThe Park post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Mendon Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mendon Township.

Read it all →

This area along the St. Joseph River was settled in the colonial period by French pioneers from Quebec and France. They traded with the Potawatomi and other Algonquian-speaking tribes of the area.

After United States acquisition of this territory following the American Revolution, settlers began to enter from eastern states in the early 19th century. The original county of St. Joseph was divided by Americans into townships. Mendon township was settled in 1831. The village of Mendon was platted in 1845.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Mendon Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
MIMap-doton-Mendon2005MIMap-doton-Mendon
On the National Register

2 historic places in Mendon Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Marantette House
Marantette HouseMarantette Bridge
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Pratt Through Truss Bridge1
Marantette HouseGreek Revival
Marantette BridgePratt Through Truss Bridge

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Mendon Township, census by census

02004006008001,000190019502000Peak: 951

Between 409 and 951 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mendon Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Park, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Park
1838–1873
Mendon
1858–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Kline's Resort Trailer ParkMendon
Gone or out of use
Mendon StationlocalePark Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mendon Township
DuttonMendonSaint Edward's Catholic ChurchScottSprung

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Park TownshipIts storyBLeonidas TownshipIts storyA−Nottawa Township4 historic placesB+Brady Township1 historic placeB+Wakeshma TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Mendon Township’s history

What year was Mendon Township founded?

In 1845, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mendon Township’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1860 counted 409 people here.

How does Mendon Township rank for history?

Mendon Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #59 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.

What is on the National Register in Mendon Township?

Two places: the Marantette House (listed 1973) and the Marantette Bridge (2001).

How old are the homes in Mendon Township?

32% of Mendon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.