Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Plymouth’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plymouth is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #65 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Plymouth’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 Plymouth’s 4.3 sits above most of its state (74% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points). Two sources give 1825.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Plymouth’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Plymouth was first settled in 1825, incorporated as a village in 1867, and became a city in 1932.
In 1825, Luther Lincoln was granted two land patents in what is now Plymouth by the federal government. Lincoln built his place of business, his saw mill, and abode, near the eastern boundary of his land, along the Rouge River. His actual abode and saw mill was always outside the city limits. Another early settler was William Starkweather. William and his wife Keziah brought their firstborn son Albert to the area and built the first home in Plymouth, at what is now the southwest corner of Main Street and Ann Arbor Trail. The first home was a lean-to, and was later replaced by a log cabin, which has since been destroyed.
Passages that mention Plymouth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Detroit and Michigan, or, The metropolis illustrated [microform]1884 · page 127Read the page →
Read the text
On March 31, 1833, the township of Greenfield was formed out of part of the township of Springwells. On March 7, 1834, the township of Canton was formed out of Plymouth. The township of Livonia was created on March 17, 1835; it had been embraced, first in the township of Bucklin, and then in Nankin. The township of Romulus was formed out of Huron, by Act of the same date,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Detroit and Michigan, or, The metropolis illustrated [microform]1884 · page 128Read the page →
Read the text
Plymouth township was probably named in honor of the first American settlement at Plymouth Rock. corce takes its name from the river Ecorce, or Bark River, which tlows through the township. — It was so called by the French and Indians because of the birch and other barks procured along its banks, The name of Huron comes from the old Indian tribe which frequented this region,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Plymouth, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1825, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1860 counted 820 people here.
How does Plymouth rank for history?
Plymouth is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #65 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 Plymouth?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Henry W. Baker House (listed 1982, the first).
How old are the homes in Plymouth?
30% of Plymouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1961.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1977
1977
1977
