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C+History
History · Oscoda Township

Oscoda Township’s post office opened in 1875, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #451 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Oscoda Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1890.

1875first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Oscoda Township began

When was Oscoda Township founded?

1875

The Oscoda Township post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Au Sable (1856), Five Channels (1912) and Serradella (1912), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 3,593 in 18902020 census: 7,152151 years

How historic is Oscoda Township?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Oscoda Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Oscoda Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oscoda Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #451 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 Oscoda Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1875, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.9% of homes (±1.9) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 2.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 36%

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 Oscoda Township’s 2.8 sits above most of its state (71% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Oscoda 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 Oscoda Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Oscoda Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oscoda Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oscoda 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
Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Au Sable
1856–1912
Oscoda
1875–today
Five Channels
1912–1913
Serradella
1912–1915
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Foote Site VillageLincoln JunctionOscodaOscoda Mobile Home ParkSid TownWhispering Woods Mobile Home Community
Gone or out of use
Cedarmere StationlocaleFive Channels Post Officepost officeSerradella Post Officepost officeWurtsmith Air Force Basemilitary
1cemetery inside Oscoda Township
Chippewa

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Oscoda Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oscoda Township.

Read it all →

The area was first settled as early as 1867 when the firm of Smith, Kelley, & Dwight purchased land here and platted the community. A post office under the name Au Sable served the area until the Oscoda post office was established on July 1, 1875. The name Oscoda is believed to come from Henry Schoolcraft, who used a shortened form of ossin and muscoda, which means a pebbly prairie.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oscoda Township, 1856 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Au Sable post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Oscoda post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912BuiltCooke Hydroelectric Plant is built
  6. 1912Post officeThe Au Sable post office closes
  7. 1912Post officeThe Five Channels post office opens
  8. 1913Post officeThe Five Channels post office closes
  9. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Oscoda Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Family Fare2013Family FareKfc taco bell2011Kfc taco bellFarnsworth Street sign2011Farnsworth Street signDollar general2011Dollar generalFormerperry2010FormerperryDowntownoscoda2010Downtownoscoda
On the map

Oscoda Township on the map, 1959 to 1989

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

Oscoda Township on the 1959 USGS mapOscoda Township on the 1989 USGS map1959Tawas City 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 Oscoda Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Oscoda Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Cooke Hydroelectric Plant
Cooke Hydroelectric Plant, built 1912
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
Cooke Hydroelectric PlantClassical Revival · Built 1912

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

People over time

Oscoda Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,593

Between 864 and 3,593 people in every census since 1890.

7 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Mikado TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAu Sable TownshipIts storyC+Plainfield TownshipIts storyC−Wilber TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreenbush TownshipIts storyC−Curtis TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Oscoda Township’s history

What year was Oscoda Township founded?

The Oscoda Township post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Oscoda Township rank for history?

Oscoda Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #451 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 Oscoda Township?

One place: the Cooke Hydroelectric Plant (listed 1996).

How old are the homes in Oscoda Township?

5% of Oscoda Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1971.

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.