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History · Platte Township

Platte Township’s post office opened in 1868, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on.

1868first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Platte Township began

When was Platte Township founded?

1868

The Platte Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Platte (1868), Osborn (1887) and Stormer (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 343158 years
Founding year: the first Platte Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Platte 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 writtenNo old photos of Platte Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Platte Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Platte Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Platte Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Platte
1868–1905
Osborn
1887–1911
Stormer
1902–1910
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Osborn Post Officepost officePlatte Post Officepost officeStormer Post Officepost officeStormer Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Platte Township
BlandPlatte

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

The story so far

Platte Township, in brief

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

Platte Township () is a rural civil township of Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 343 at the 2020 census. It is located in the north central portion of the county.

Its first post office opened in 1868. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 354 to 343 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Platte Township, 1868 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Platte post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Osborn post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902Post officeThe Stormer post office opens
  6. 1905Post officeThe Platte post office closes
  7. 1910Post officeThe Stormer post office closes
  8. 1911Post officeThe Osborn post office closes
  9. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Platte Township on the map, 1956 to 1983

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

Platte Township on the 1956 USGS mapPlatte Township on the 1983 USGS map1956Thompsonville 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 Platte Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Homestead TownshipIts storyC−Almira TownshipIts storyC−Lake Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEmpire Township1 historic placeB−Benzonia Township3 historic placesBInland TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Platte Township’s history

What year was Platte Township founded?

The Platte Township post office opened in 1868, 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 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.