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History · Merrill

Merrill’s post office opened in 1882, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Merrill began

When was Merrill founded?

1882

The Merrill post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 412 in 18902020 census: 663144 years
Founding year: the first Merrill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Merrill’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 963 in 1960; 663 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1924, drew every building in Merrill.Old housesHalf of Merrill’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Merrill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Merrill’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
People over time

Merrill, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 963

Peaked at 963 in 1960; 663 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Merrill, building by building, 1893–1924

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Merrill fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Merrill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Merrill.

Read it all →

The area was uninhabited until 1872 when the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis Railroad developed into the area. A local resident named Greene established a sawmill here, and a new settlement began to grow around it. A post office named Greene opened on May 21, 1875. Merchants also moved to the area and began setting up businesses along a nearby crossroad, and this site became known as Merrill by 1881. The name came from N. W. Merrill, who was a railroad worker that befriended and assisted the locals during forest fires that same year. The Greene post office was renamed Merrill on November 2, 1881. Merrill incorporated as a village in 1889.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Merrill, 1877 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877In the archiveAtlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actual surveys and records
  3. 20th century
  4. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 963
By decade

Merrill, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Atlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actual surveys and records1877Atlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actu…Map
Today2 recent
Merrill, MI village hall (September 2022)2022Merrill, MI village hall (September 2022)Merrill, MI location2019Merrill, MI location
On the map

Merrill on the map, 1934 to 1973

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

Merrill on the 1934 USGS mapMerrill on the 1973 USGS map1934Merrill 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 Merrill.

Questions about Merrill’s history

What year was Merrill founded?

The Merrill post office opened in 1882, 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 (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.