More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #581 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Mount Morris Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1964. Below: maps from 1919 on and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Morris Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #581 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 Mount Morris 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 Mount Morris 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 still be C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). Two sources give 1862.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Mount Morris Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1890, then grew 9-fold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Morris Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
BeecherBirchwood Mobile Home ParkDiane Mobile Home ManorWestwood Heights Mobile Home ParkWhite Oak Estates Mobile Home ParkWhite Oaks Estates Mobile Home Park
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story
How Mount Morris Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Morris Township.
Benjamin Pearson was the first settler in the area in 1833. In 1836, Frederick Walker was the first to settle within the future village site. A post office named Mount Morris was established on July 11, 1837, with Charles N. Beecher as the first postmaster. The name of the office was changed to Genesee on January 19, 1839, and back to Mount Morris on April 25, 1857. The name became Mount Morris Station on April 17, 1865, and finally reverted to Mount Morris on March 9, 1874. Development was spurred with the building of a line of the Pere Marquette Railway (now owned by Lake State Railway) in 1857. The settlement was first platted as Dover in 1862 and was incorporated as the village of Mount Morris in 1867. It reincorporated as a city in 1929.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Morris 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 Mount Morris Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1862, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1880 counted 502 people here.
How does Mount Morris Township rank for history?
Mount Morris Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #581 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 Mount Morris Township?
9% of Mount Morris Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1964.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
2017
