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A+History
History · Portland

Portland’s post office opened in 1837, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #21 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 44 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.

1837first post office
2on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Portland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Portland began

When was Portland founded?

1837

The Portland post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 440 in 18602020 census: 3,796189 years

How historic is Portland?

A+

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Portland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Portland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portland is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #21 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Portland’s overall grade.
Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194038.3% of homes (±10.1) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 45 historic buildings, 119 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 97%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 97%

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 Portland’s 119 sits above most of its state (95% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 45 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.1 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 Portland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Portland Downtown Historic District takes in 44 historic buildings.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1918, drew every building in Portland.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Portland.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Portland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Portland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPortland, Mich: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

2 listings protect 45 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
45
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
Portland Downtown Historic District
Portland Downtown Historic DistrictPortland High School
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Commercial Style1
Classical Revival1
Portland Downtown Historic DistrictItalianate
Portland High SchoolBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Portland, building by building, 1886–1918

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Portland fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Portland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Portland.

Read it all →

According to government records, the first land that was owned in what is now known as Portland was owned by Elisha Newman in 1833. Ionia County histories say that Philo Bogue built a trading post on the Grand River later that year, the Bogue Flats Recreation Area now being named for him. The first post office arrived in 1837. Portland has been home to several Native American tribes, and was the dwelling-place of John Okemos in the 1850s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Portland, 1837 to 1991

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Portland post office opens
  3. 1881Born hereClarence Budington Kelland is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907In the archivePortland, Mich
  6. 1945On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970Born hereKristen McDonald Rivet is born here
  8. 1991Born hereJake Silas is born here
By decade

Portland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Portland, Mich1907Portland, MichPortland, Mich1907Portland, Mich
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
St. Patrick-Portland2020St. Patrick-PortlandPortland High School2017Portland High SchoolPortland Michigan Carnegie Library2014Portland Michigan Carnegie LibraryChief okemos grave stone Portland Mi 2014-05-13 00-292014Chief okemos grave stone Portland Mi 2014-05-13 00-29MIMap-doton-Portland2005MIMap-doton-Portland
On the map

Portland on the map, 1945 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Portland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Portland on the 1945 USGS mapPortland on the 1978 USGS map1945Portland 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 Portland.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Portland, Mich
Retake this viewPortland, Mich, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Portland’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Portland, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000190019502000Peak: 3,963

Between 440 and 3,963 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Portland’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Portland

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Kristen McDonald RivetAmerican politician · b. 1970
C
Clarence Budington KellandNovelist, short story writer, journalist · b. 1881
Jim LillAmerican country musician
J
Jake SilasCanadian football offensive lineman · b. 1991
Martia L. Davis BerryAmerican political reformer · b. 1844
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Portland’s post office has been open since 1837.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sunset View Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Portland Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Portland
Portland City

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Portland Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDanby TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Portland’s history

What year was Portland founded?

The Portland post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Portland rank for history?

Portland is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #21 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.

What is on the National Register in Portland?

Two places: the Portland Downtown Historic District (listed 2005) and the Portland High School (2016).

How old are the homes in Portland?

38% of Portland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1957.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (7), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.