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Village of MetamoraPhoto: Detroit Lions Super Bowl Champs · CC BY-SA 4.0
A−History
History · Metamora Township

Metamora Township’s post office opened in 1840, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #109 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 15 buildings. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1880.

1840first post office
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Metamora Township began

When was Metamora Township founded?

1840

The Metamora Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Amboy (1837), Etna (1841) and Rural Vale (1847), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 236 in 18802020 census: 4,368186 years

How historic is Metamora Township?

A−

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Metamora Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Metamora Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Metamora Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #109 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Metamora Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1840, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194013.6% of homes (±5.4) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 15 historic buildings, 33.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 85%

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 Metamora Township’s 33.8 sits above most of its state (88% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 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 Metamora 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 Metamora Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Metamora Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Metamora Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Metamora Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Metamora 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
Places that used to be

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

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Amboy
1837–1854
Metamora
1840–today
Etna
1841–1854
Rural Vale
1847–1879
Thornville
1854–1905
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ideal Villa Mobile Home ParkMetamoraThornville
Gone or out of use
Metamora StationlocaleRural Vale Post Officepost officeThornville Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Metamora Township
Farmers CreekMetamoraRock Valley

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

Timeline

Metamora Township, 1837 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Amboy post office opens
  3. 1840Post officeThe Metamora post office opens
  4. 1841Post officeThe Etna post office opens
  5. 1854Post officeThe Amboy post office closes
  6. 1854Post officeThe Etna post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Metamora Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Metamora Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Metamora is a village in Lapeer County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 594 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Metamora Township.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,249 to 4,368 (+3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Metamora Township, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Metamora, Michigan location2023Metamora, Michigan locationVillage of2021Village ofKeyesAcorns2016KeyesAcornsStephensLodge2015StephensLodgeBlue Heron in the Wetlands2013Blue Heron in the WetlandsMetamora Crossroads Historic District2011Metamora Crossroads Historic DistrictJamestowneDrMetamoraMI2008JamestowneDrMetamoraMIMIMap-doton-Metamora2005MIMap-doton-Metamora
On the map

Metamora Township on the map, 1943 to 1991

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

Metamora Township on the 1943 USGS mapMetamora Township on the 1968 USGS mapMetamora Township on the 1980 USGS mapMetamora Township on the 1991 USGS map1943Metamora sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 listing protects 15 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Metamora Crossroads Historic District
Metamora Crossroads Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Gothic1
Italianate1
Metamora Crossroads Historic DistrictGreek Revival

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

People over time

Metamora Township, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020594

Grew from 236 people in 1880 to 594 in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dryden Township2 historic placesA−Hadley Township1 historic placeA−Oxford Township2 historic placesA−Lapeer TownshipIts storyC+Addison TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Metamora Township’s history

What year was Metamora Township founded?

The Metamora Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Metamora Township rank for history?

Metamora Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #109 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 Metamora Township?

One place: the Metamora Crossroads Historic District (listed 1984).

How old are the homes in Metamora Township?

14% of Metamora Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.