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History · Paris Township

29% of Paris Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1963 on.

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Paris 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Paris Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Paris Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Paris Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Paris Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPlat book of Huron County, Michigan - a…: stand where they stood+15Share 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.

Cracow
1869–1874
Parisville
1873–1905
Pawlowski
1892–1904
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Parisville
Gone or out of use
Parisville Post Officepost officePawlowski Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Paris Township
BrackleyMost Holy TrinitySaint Mary's Catholic

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

The story so far

Paris Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Paris Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Paris Township is a civil township of Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 491 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 481 to 491 (+2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Paris Township, 1869 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Cracow post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Parisville post office opens
  4. 1874Post officeThe Cracow post office closes
  5. 1892Post officeThe Pawlowski post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904In the archivePlat book of Huron County, Michigan - also patron's business and general farmer's directo…
  8. 1904Post officeThe Pawlowski post office closes
  9. 1905Post officeThe Parisville post office closes
  10. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Paris Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Plat book of Huron County, Michigan - also patron's business and general farmer's directory of Huron Co., Mich. - with …1904Plat book of Huron County, Michigan - also patron's b…
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Paris Township, MI location2019Paris Township, MI location
On the map

Paris Township on the map, 1963 to 1984

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

Paris Township on the 1963 USGS mapParis Township on the 1984 USGS map1963Minden City sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Paris Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Plat book of Huron County, Michigan - also patron's business and general farmer's directory of Huron Co., Mich. - with …
Retake this viewPlat book of Huron County, Michigan - also patron's business and general farmer's directory of Huron Co., Mich. - with …, 1904

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Paris Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Paris Township

Nobody well known was born in Paris Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Frank MurphyU.S. Supreme Court justice from 1940 to 1949 · b. 1890
Helen Thompson GaigeAmerican herpetologist · b. 1890
David C. ClarkAmerican politician · b. 1926
Dick LangeAmerican baseball player · b. 1948
George LincolnAmerican military officer, educator, and author · b. 1907
Howard NugentAmerican politician · b. 1879
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bingham TownshipIts storyC+Sigel Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMinden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Paris Township’s history

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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.