Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Mendon

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Mendon

Mendon’s post office opened in 1858, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

1858first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mendon began

When was Mendon founded?

1858

The Mendon post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 881168 years
Founding year: the first Mendon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mendon’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 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mendon’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mendon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mendon’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
The story

How Mendon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mendon.

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, decade by decade

Today1 recent
MIMap-doton-Mendon2005MIMap-doton-Mendon

Questions about Mendon’s history

What year was Mendon founded?

The Mendon post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.