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B−History
History · Pinckney

Pinckney’s post office opened in 1837, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1860.

1837first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Pinckney began

When was Pinckney founded?

1837

The Pinckney post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 244 in 18602020 census: 2,415189 years

How historic is Pinckney?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Pinckney post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Pinckney’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pinckney is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pinckney’s overall grade.
Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194010.0% of homes (±3.8) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder

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 Pinckney’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). 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 Pinckney’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 Pinckney are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19025 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1996. Watch Pinckney change.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Pinckney.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pinckney’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pinckney’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
On the map

Pinckney on the map, 1902 to 1996

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

Pinckney on the 1902 USGS mapPinckney on the 1965 USGS mapPinckney on the 1975 USGS mapPinckney on the 1983 USGS mapPinckney on the 1996 USGS map1902Dexter 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 Pinckney.

Timeline

Pinckney, 1855 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Born hereCharles Sumner Burch is born here
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1918Born hereGlendon Swarthout is born here
  6. 1987Born hereRyan Donovan is born here
  7. 1998Born hereJake Vedder is born here
The story so far

Pinckney, in brief

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

Pinckney is a village in Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,415 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Putnam Township. Among the first American pioneers in the area around Pinckney were William Kirkland and his family, who moved from New York in the late 1820s. Kirkland named the community after his brother, Charles Pinckney Kirkland. Platted in 1837, Pinckney was incorporated as a village in 1883.

Its first post office opened in 1837. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,427 in 2010, 2,415 in 2020.

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

By decade

Pinckney, decade by decade

Today6 recent
The UPS Store2010The UPS StorePinckney Village Hall2010Pinckney Village HallFarm Bureau Insurance office2010Farm Bureau Insurance officeDowntown Pinckney Michigan Main Street12010Downtown Pinckney Michigan Main Street1Downtown Pinckney Michigan Main Street2010Downtown Pinckney Michigan Main StreetSnowy river in2009Snowy river in
People over time

Pinckney, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500190019502000Peak: 2,427

Between 244 and 2,427 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Pinckney

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jake VedderAmerican male snowboarder · b. 1998
Glendon SwarthoutAmerican western author and novelist · b. 1918
R
Ryan DonovanAmerican ice hockey goaltender · b. 1987
Charles Sumner Burch(1855-1920) American baseball player and bishop · b. 1855
D
Dominik ShineCanadian ice hockey player · b. 1993

Questions about Pinckney’s history

What year was Pinckney founded?

The Pinckney post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Pinckney rank for history?

Pinckney is more historic than 50% 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 Pinckney?

10% of Pinckney’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1993.

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), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.