Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #468 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Port Sheldon Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 2000.
The Port Sheldon Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Port Sheldon (1838) and Portsheldon (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 40% 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 Sheldon Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #468 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 Sheldon 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: 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Sheldon Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Port Sheldon Township.
Port Sheldon Township was established in 1924 by the division off the west end of what had been Olive Township, reducing Olive Township to about 36 square miles.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Port Sheldon 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 Sheldon Township.
Between 4,240 and 5,206 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Sheldon Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Port Sheldon Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Port Sheldon Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Port Sheldon Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #468 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.
4% of Port Sheldon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 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.
