Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Mikado Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Mikado Township

Mikado Township’s post office opened in 1886

Most of Mikado Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mikado Township began

When was Mikado Township founded?

1886

The Mikado Township post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Alvin (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 850140 years
Founding year: the first Mikado Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mikado 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 Mikado Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mikado Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mikado 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
The story

How Mikado Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mikado Township.

Read it all →

In the early 1880s, the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad expanded its railway line through Alcona County. The line was constructed a few miles inland just west of the community of Greenbush. Daniel Bruce, who resided in Greenbush, moved west in early 1886 and settled along the railway line. He built a hotel and livery barn to serve traveling lumbermen in anticipation of the growing lumber industry. Numerous other families settled along the railway, and the new community became known as West Greenbush.

ChaptersEarly historyVillage of MikadoRecent history

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mikado Township, 1886 to 1911

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Mikado post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Alvin post office opens
  5. 1911Post officeThe Alvin post office closes
By decade

Mikado Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Mikado, MI post office2025Mikado, MI post officeMikado, MI (July 2025)2025Mikado, MI (July 2025)Bailey School (Alcona County, MI)2018Bailey School (Alcona County, MI)F41 mikado2013F41 mikado
Famous people

Famous people close to Mikado Township

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

See all →
J. Scott CampbellAmerican comic book artist · b. 1973
Jeff JanisAmerican football player · b. 1991
George PrescottAmerican politician · b. 1913
L
Leland JacobsAmerican teacher · b. 1907
Places that used to be

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

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

Mikado
1886–today
Alvin
1906–1911
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlvinMikado
Gone or out of use
Alvin Post Officepost officeMikado Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Mikado Township
Mikado 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.

Oscoda Township1 historic placeC+Curtis TownshipIts storyC−Greenbush TownshipIts storyC−Gustin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMillen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mikado Township’s history

What year was Mikado Township founded?

The Mikado Township post office opened in 1886, 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 (4), 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.