The Port Austin Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, New River (1866) and Grind Stone City (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 757 in 18802020 census: 1,384170 years
How historic is Port Austin Township?
B
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Port Austin Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Port Austin Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Austin Township is more historic than 64% 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 Port Austin 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 Port Austin Township’s 160 sits above most of its state (96% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 24 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 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 Port Austin Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 883 in 1970; 622 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Austin Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Port Austin
1856–today
New River
1866–1872
Grind Stone City
1872–1962
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grind Stone CityPort Austin
Gone or out of use
Grindstone City StationlocalePort Austin Air Force StationmilitaryPort Austin Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Port Austin Township
New RiverPort AustinSaint Michael
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Port Austin Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Port Austin Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Port Austin is a village in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Port Austin had a population of 622. The village is within Port Austin Township.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,424 to 1,384 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Port Austin Township, 1856 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Port Austin Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Port Austin Township rank for history?
Port Austin Township is more historic than 64% 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 Port Austin Township?
6 listings: 3 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Grindstone City Historic District and the Huron City Historic District, with 20 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 24 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Port Austin Township?
11% of Port Austin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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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