Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Northport

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 · Northport

Northport’s post office opened in 1856, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1860.

1856first post office
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Northport began

When was Northport founded?

1856

The Northport post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 393 in 18602020 census: 496170 years
Founding year: the first Northport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Northport’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 Northport are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1860 and 1880, then more than doubled.Old housesHalf of Northport’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Northport’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Northport’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
People over time

Northport, census by census

0100200300400500600700190019502000393 in 1860Low: 198

Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1880, then more than doubled.

16 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Northport’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Northport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Northport.

Read it all →

In 1848 Michigan suffered from a smallpox epidemic that affected the entire community of people. Chief Peter Waukazoo and Reverend George Smith moved the community as well as the Holland-area Ottawa Mission up to the Leelanau Peninsula on boats or canoes. When the settlers had reached their destination they called it Waukazooville. Deacon Joseph Dame arrived at Waukazooville in 1854 and decided to change the name to Northport at this time.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Northport, 1957 to 2000

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1988Born hereNathan Scherrer is born here
  4. 21st century
  5. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 648
By decade

Northport, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Northport Michigan Welcome Sign2011Northport Michigan Welcome SignNorthport Michigan Sign M-222011Northport Michigan Sign M-22Northport Michigan Looking North M-2012011Northport Michigan Looking North M-201Northport Michigan Looking East M-2012011Northport Michigan Looking East M-201MIMap-doton-Northport2005MIMap-doton-Northport
On the map

Northport on the map, 1957 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Northport. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Northport on the 1957 USGS mapNorthport on the 1983 USGS map1957Northport 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 Northport.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Northport

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Northport’s history

What year was Northport founded?

The Northport post office opened in 1856, 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 (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.