Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #130 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1902 on.
The Northfield Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Northfield (1834), Louiseville (1835) and North Lake (1836), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northfield Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #130 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Northfield Township’s 25.6 sits above most of its state (87% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 22 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Northfield Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Northfield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Northfield Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Northfield Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Northfield Township is a civil township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,514 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1834. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 8,245 to 8,550 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMartha Waldron Janes is born here
BuiltJoshua G. and Nancy (Bly) Leland House is built
In the archiveStandard atlas of Washtenaw County, Michigan - including a plat book of the villages, cit…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2012Carroa Residence, 8583 North Dixboro Road, Northfield…
2012Bucolic Vista, Nollar Road, Northfield Township, Mich…
2011Con-way Freight truck Whitmore Lake Michigan
2010Northfield Township Senior Center
2010Northfield Township Rhetech
2010Northfield Township Jomar Technology Park
2010Northfield Township Jasman Building
2010Northfield Township Hall
2010Northfield Township Farm
2010Devereaux Octagon HouseThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Northfield Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Northfield Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #130 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.
8 listings: 7 buildings and 1 historic district, the St. Patrick's Parish Complex, with 2 contributing buildings. 22 historic buildings in all.
10% of Northfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1985.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
