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History · Middle Branch Township

12% of Middle Branch Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1900 on.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Middle Branch 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Middle Branch Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Middle Branch Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPlat book of Osceola County, Michigan: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Middle Branch Township, in brief

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

Middle Branch Township is a civil township of Osceola County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 775 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 843 to 775 (-8%).

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

Timeline

Middle Branch Township, 1893 to 1906

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893Post officeThe Gormer post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archivePlat book of Osceola County, Michigan
  5. 1906Post officeThe Gormer post office closes
By decade

Middle Branch Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Plat book of Osceola County, Michigan1900Plat book of Osceola County, Michigan
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Middle Branch Township, Michigan2026Middle Branch Township, MichiganM-61 (Michigan highway) western terminus2026M-61 (Michigan highway) western terminus
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Plat book of Osceola County, Michigan
Retake this viewPlat book of Osceola County, Michigan, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Middle Branch Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Middle Branch Township

Nobody well known was born in Middle Branch Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Forest Ray MoultonAmerican astronomer and mathematician of the XX… · b. 1872
Mary E. ByrdAstronomer · b. 1849
J
Joseph William GuytonUS Army soldier · b. 1889
D
Dan BazuinPlayer of American football · b. 1983
D
Deane W. KelleyAmerican football coach · b. 1876
Wib SmithAmerican baseball player · b. 1886
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Gormer Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Middle Branch Township
Methodist Episcopal ChurchMiddle Branch Township

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.

Marion TownshipIts storyB−Sylvan TownshipIts storyC−Redding TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHartwick TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Middle Branch Township’s history

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), 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.