Midland’s post office opened in 1856, and 25 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #319 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Midland was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. 25 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1870.
The Midland post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Smithville (1872), Smiths Crossing (1890) and Colden (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,160 in 18702020 census: 42,547170 years
How historic is Midland?
B
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Midland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Midland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Midland is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #319 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Midland’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 Midland’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (77% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 25 listings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. 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 Midland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Midland’s post office has been open since 1856. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Midland
1856–today
Smithville
1872–1873
Smiths Crossing
1890–1911
Colden
1891–1902
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alpine Mobile Home VillageArlington Manor Mobile Home ParkDeanGoldenMaple Grove Mobile Home VillageMapletonScience City Mobile Home ParkVictoria Woods Mobile Home Court
Gone or out of use
Golden StationlocaleSmiths Crossing Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Midland
ArranceMidland MunicipalOld Calvary
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Midland’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Midland’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
By the late 1820s, Midland was established as a fur trading post of the American Fur Company supervised by the post at Saginaw. Here agents purchased furs from Ojibwe trappers. The Campau family of Detroit operated an independent trading post at this location in the late 1820s.
Dow Chemical Company was founded in Midland in 1897, and its world headquarters are still located there. Through the influence of a Dow Chemical plant opening in Handa, Aichi, Japan, Midland and Handa have become sister cities. Dow Corning was also headquartered in Midland.
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.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Midland.
Every building
Midland, building by building, 1884–1926
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.
The Midland post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Midland rank for history?
Midland is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #319 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 Midland?
25 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 25 buildings, among them the Herbert H. Dow House (a National Historic Landmark since 1976) and the Bradley House (listed 1972, the first).
How old are the homes in Midland?
9% of Midland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (1), Wikidata (17), the National Register of Historic Places (25), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
