3 of Peninsula Township’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #257 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Hedden Hall, the Dougherty Mission House and the Stickney Summer House-Bowers Harbor Inn. Most of Peninsula Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1957 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Peninsula Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #257 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Peninsula 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 Peninsula Township’s 8.2 sits above most of its state (81% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±3.1 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 Peninsula Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1836 the Odawa (Ottawa) and Chippewa Nations had ceded more than 13 million acres of the northwest section of Michigan's Lower Peninsula to the U.S. Government in the Treaty of Washington (1836). The treaty called for mission churches and schools to be established to educate the native children. Presbyterian ministers Peter Dougherty and John Fleming and four male missionaries founded a settlement at what is now Old Mission in May 1839, the first European settlement in the Grand Traverse Bay region.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Peninsula Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Traverse 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 Peninsula Township.
On the National Register
3 historic places in Peninsula Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Peninsula Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #257 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 Peninsula Township?
Three places: the Hedden Hall (listed 1982), the Dougherty Mission House (2011) and the Stickney Summer House-Bowers Harbor Inn (2011).
How old are the homes in Peninsula Township?
7% of Peninsula Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
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