On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ovid Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ovid Township’s overall grade.
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 Ovid Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Ovid Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ovid Centre
1857–1867
Shephardsville
1867–1935
Jessie
1894–1902
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Shepardsville
Gone or out of use
Jessie Post Officepost officeShepardsville Post Officepost officeShephardsville Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Ovid Township
South Ovid
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Ovid Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ovid Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ovid is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Nearly all of the city is located within Clinton County with only a very small portion extending east into Shiawassee County. The population was 1,481 at the 2020 census. The city is located along M-21, about 9 miles (14 km) east of St. Johns and about 10 miles (16 km) west of Owosso. Ovid incorporated as a village in 1867 and as a city in 2015.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,795 to 2,188 (-42%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Ovid Township, 1857 to 1935
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Ovid Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Ovid Township?
23% of Ovid Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), 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.
Date?
2005
