The Pokagon Township post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Pocagon (1829), Summerville (1837) and Pokagon (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,199 in 20002020 census: 2,119168 years
How historic is Pokagon Township?
B
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Pokagon Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Pokagon Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pokagon Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pokagon 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 Pokagon Township’s 4.6 sits above most of its state (75% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.5 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 Pokagon Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pocagon
1829–1837
Summerville
1837–1899
Pokagon
1858–1925
Sumnerville
1899–1904
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
PokagonSumnerville
Gone or out of use
Pokagon Post Officepost officeSumnerville Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pokagon Township
DeweyEvergreenMission Hills Memorial GardensRodgersSumnerville
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Pokagon Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pokagon Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pokagon Township is a civil township of Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,119 at the 2020 census. The township includes the unincorporated communities of Pokagon and Sumnerville, adjacent to each other on M-51. Pokagon Township is the location of the first public performance of the hymn "The Old Rugged Cross", the birthplace of journalist Webb Miller, and the location of the government offices of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians.
Its first post office opened in 1858. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,029 to 2,119 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Pokagon Township in 1882
Passages that mention Pokagon Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
character. He was a native of Giles County, Va., and born November 28, 1802. He came to Cass County in 1830, and located in the southwest portion of Pokagon Township, where he taught school far a short time. In 1832, he moved to Cassopolis, where he resided until coming to Dowagiac, eighteen years later.
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.
Timeline
Pokagon Township, 1829 to 1945
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pokagon Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1945Cassopolis 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 Pokagon Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Pokagon Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Pokagon Township post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pokagon Township rank for history?
Pokagon Township is more historic than 57% 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.
What is on the National Register in Pokagon Township?
One place: the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Pokagon (listed 2002).
How old are the homes in Pokagon Township?
16% of Pokagon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
