Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #408 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Port Huron Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1850.
Port Huron Township dates its founding to 1814 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Huron Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #408 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Huron 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Another post office, Desmond, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveSamuel Edison, Jr., and family in front of their home on the shore of Lake Huron
In the archiveDavidson House c1890
In the archiveDetroit Publishing - Engine, locomotive, 1500 h.p., St. Clair tunnel, Port Huron, Mich
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Port Huron Township.
This region was long occupied by the Ojibwa people. French colonists had a temporary trading post and fort at this site in the 17th century.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1880Samuel Edison, Jr., and family in front of their home…
1881Addition to the City of Port Huron Being a Subdivisio…c. 1890Davidson House c1890![[Samuel Edison, Jr., and unidentified woman?]](https://images.townratings.com/story/24345/ed6703eb742ae6d09044-s.jpg)
c. 1895[Samuel Edison, Jr., and unidentified woman?]
1895Lobby of Harrington Hotel
1898Post Office, Port Huron, MichPostcard
1898Public Library, Port Huron, MichPostcardEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Port Huron Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Port Huron Township.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Port Huron Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,584 and 36,084 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Huron Township’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1814, according to Wikidata. Port Huron Township’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1850 counted 1,584 people here.
Port Huron Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #408 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.
7% of Port Huron Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), 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.
1900
1900
