Most of Pinconning Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pinconning Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pinconning 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 Pinconning 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 (±2.3 points) is firm at this size.
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 →
The name, "Pinconning," comes from the Ojibwe Opinikaaning (syncope as Pinkaaning; recorded as "o-pin-nic-con-ing"), which translates into English as, "potato place." The community is named after the Pinconning River, which flows through the community.
The town was first colonized in 1872 by George VanEtten and Henry Kaiser as a lumber settlement along the Pinconning River. The post office in Pinconning opened on January 29, 1873. In 1907 a man named William Reid moved to Pinconning, and started Pinconning Creamery. A gravel road between Pinconning and neighboring Standish was built in 1918, the same year the prohibition had taken effect.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pinconning Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Pinconning 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 Pinconning 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.
Retake this viewDeer Acres, Pinconning, Michigan, 1988
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pinconning Township’s page.
Pinconning Township is more historic than 20% 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 Pinconning Township?
5% of Pinconning Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1971.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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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1988
