Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: the census since 1870.
The Porter Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Porter (1869), North Wheeler (1894) and Redstone (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Porter Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Porter 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 Porter Township’s history is told.
Three 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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Porter Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Porter Township is a civil township of Midland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,270 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1869. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,277 in 2010, 1,270 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereCecil Glen Foster is born hereWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 82 and 1,277 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Porter Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Porter Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Porter Township is more historic than 36% 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.
15% of Porter Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.