On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Middlebury Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Middlebury Township’s overall grade.
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 Middlebury Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Middlebury Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Middleburgh
1848–1862
Mungerville
1864–1878
Burton
1878–1936
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burton
Gone or out of use
Burton Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Middlebury Township
Middlebury
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Middlebury Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Middlebury Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Middlebury Township is a civil township of Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 1,529. The township is located about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of the city of Owosso. The village of Ovid had a very small portion within Middlebury Township until Ovid incorporated as an autonomous city in 2015. M-21 passes east–west through the center of the township.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,510 in 2010, 1,529 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Middlebury Township, 1848 to 1936
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Middlebury Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Middlebury Township?
16% of Middlebury Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
