Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Northville 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
C+History
History · Northville Township

Northville Township dates to 1867, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #431 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Northville Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the Greenmead Farms. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1860.

1867founded
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Northville Township began

When was Northville Township founded?

1867

Northville Township dates its founding to 1867 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 620 in 18602020 census: 31,758159 years

How historic is Northville Township?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Northville Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northville Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #431 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Northville Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19402.2% of homes (±1.0) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 7 historic buildings, 2.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 39%

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 Northville Township’s 2.2 sits above most of its state (70% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1867.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size.

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 Northville 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 Northville Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19057 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1980. Watch Northville Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Northville Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Northville 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
On the map

Northville Township on the map, 1905 to 1980

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

Northville Township on the 1905 USGS mapNorthville Township on the 1936 USGS mapNorthville Township on the 1945 USGS mapNorthville Township on the 1952 USGS mapNorthville Township on the 1969 USGS mapNorthville Township on the 1973 USGS mapNorthville Township on the 1980 USGS map1905Plymouth 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 Northville Township.

The story

How Northville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Northville Township.

Read it all →

European Americans first settled Northville in 1825 and was incorporated as a Village in 1867. It was not incorporated as a City until 1955. Originally one of two communities within Plymouth Township, Northville Township split off in 1898 to form its own township.

The first land patent in the Northville area was granted to Gideon Benton in 1823; the current Cass Benton Park is located here. The first settlers did not arrive, however, until 1825. Many of these first settlers were originally from central and western New York State, with ancestors in New England. Others came from the nearby, already settled Plymouth community to Northville.

ChaptersSettlementVictorian eraVillage eraCity eraLibraries

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Northville Township, 1850 to 1905

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Mead's Mills post office opens
  3. 1867
    FoundingNorthville Township is established
  4. 1884Post officeThe Mead's Mills post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Northville Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Hole 112009Hole 11Hole 102009Hole 10Hole 12009Hole 1Northville summer fri conc2008Northville summer fri concMillRaceVillage3NorthvilleMichigan2008MillRaceVillage3NorthvilleMichiganMillRaceVillage2NorthvilleMichigan2008MillRaceVillage2NorthvilleMichigan
On the National Register

1 historic place in Northville Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Greenmead Farms
Greenmead Farms
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Greenmead FarmsGreek Revival

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

People over time

Northville Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,000190019502000Peak: 6,459

Between 620 and 6,459 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Mead's Mills, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Grand View Acres
Gone or out of use
Mead's Mills Post Officepost officeNorthville Gas Storage FieldoilfieldNorthville StationlocaleScott Regional Prisonbuilding
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Northville Township
ThayerWaterfordYerkes

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.

Northville3 historic placesAPlymouth Township2 historic placesBNovi2 historic placesBSalem Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Northville Township’s history

What year was Northville Township founded?

In 1867, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Northville Township’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1860 counted 620 people here.

How does Northville Township rank for history?

Northville Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #431 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.

What is on the National Register in Northville Township?

One place: the Greenmead Farms (listed 1972).

How old are the homes in Northville Township?

2% of Northville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1993.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.