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History · Pellston

Pellston’s post office opened in 1882, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

1882first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Pellston began

When was Pellston founded?

1882

The Pellston post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 774144 years
Founding year: the first Pellston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pellston’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 Pellston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pellston’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Pellston, in brief

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

Pellston ( PELL-stən) is a village in Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Pellston had a population of 774. The village is the home of Pellston Regional Airport. The village lies on the boundary between Maple River and McKinley townships on US Highway 31. Interstate 75 is about 10 miles (16 km) east of Pellston. Mackinaw City and the Mackinac Bridge are approximately 18 miles (29 km) north and Petoskey is about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of the village. The University of Michigan Biological Station is on nearby Douglas Lake.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 822 to 774 (-6%).

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

By decade

Pellston, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Pellston Michigan Fire Department2011Pellston Michigan Fire DepartmentPellston Michigan Downtown Looking South US312011Pellston Michigan Downtown Looking South US31Pellston Michigan Airport Tower2011Pellston Michigan Airport TowerPellston Michigan Airport Terminal2011Pellston Michigan Airport TerminalPellston Historical Society Museum Michigan2011Pellston Historical Society Museum MichiganPellston High School2001Pellston High School

Questions about Pellston’s history

What year was Pellston founded?

The Pellston post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (6). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.