Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Okemos was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1909 on.
The Okemos post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Okemos’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Okemos. 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 Okemos.
From Wikipedia’s history of Okemos.
Pioneer Freeman Bray platted the village in 1841, giving it the name of Hamilton. Residents called it Okemos, after chief John Okemos ("Little Chief"), of the Ojibway (Chippewa) people. In 1859, the State legislature officially named the village "Okemos" in honor of the chief.
The Red Cedar River, a tributary of the Grand River, flows from east to west through Okemos.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveOkemos a Chippewa Chief
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereEvan Roth is born here
Born hereTravis Bader is born here
Born hereAlma Cooper is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Okemos’ page.
Retake this view · +15The 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 Okemos post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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