Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Montrose Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montrose Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #509 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Montrose 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 Montrose 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). Two sources give 1899.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Montrose 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
Another post office, Elk, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Montrose Mobile Home ParkPine Forest Mobile Home ParkRiverside Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Elk Post Officepost officePewanogowink-Banks Airportairport
1cemetery inside Montrose Township
Montrose
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Montrose Township on the map, 1919 to 1975
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montrose Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1919Burt sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Montrose Township.
Seymour W. Ensign, originally from New York then Saginaw, became the first white residents of present-day Montrose in 1842. The village of Montrose was incorporated from a portion of the Montrose Township in 1899. In 1980, the village became a city.
On Monday November 27, 2017, the northern loop set of Genesee County municipalities, including Montrose, began receiving water from the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline and treated by Genesee County Drain Commission Water and Waste Division.
In 1899, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Montrose Township’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1900 counted 348 people here.
How does Montrose Township rank for history?
Montrose Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #509 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.
How old are the homes in Montrose Township?
15% of Montrose Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
