History · Presque Isle Township

Presque Isle Township’s post office opened in 1884, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse, the Presque Isle Light Station and the Presque Isle Lodge. Most of Presque Isle Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1971 on.

1884first post office

3on the National Register

3%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Presque Isle Township’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Presque Isle Township began

When was Presque Isle Township founded?

1884

The Presque Isle Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bell (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,698142 years

How historic is Presque Isle Township?

B⁻

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Presque Isle Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Presque Isle Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Presque Isle Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Presque Isle Township’s overall grade.

Founding era1884, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19403.3% of homes (±1.5) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National Register3 listings, 7 historic buildings, 36.6 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%

NewerOlder

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 Presque Isle Township’s 36.6 sits above most of its state (89% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 Presque Isle Township’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Presque Isle Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Presque Isle Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Presque Isle Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewPresque Isle Light Station, Off SR 405,…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Bell, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bell

1884–1911

Presque Isle

1884–today

18801950today

Hamlets and corners on the map

BellHarbor ViewOrchard PointPresque IsleStoneport

Gone or out of use

Bell Post Officepost officeStoneport Quarrymine

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Presque Isle Township

Adeline Sims GravePresque Isle

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

The story so far

Presque Isle Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Presque Isle Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Presque Isle Township is a civil township of Presque Isle County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,698 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,656 to 1,698 (+3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Presque Isle Township, 1840 to 1971

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

19th century
1840BuiltOld Presque Isle Lighthouse is built
1870BuiltPresque Isle Light Station is built
1884Post officeThe Bell post office opens
1884Post officeThe Presque Isle post office opens
20th century
1911Post officeThe Bell post office closes
1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Presque Isle Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Presque Isle Light Station, Off SR 405, At North end Grand Lake Road

Date?Presque Isle Light Station, Off SR 405, At North end …

On the map

Presque Isle Township on the map, 1971 to 1984

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

Presque Isle Township on the 1971 USGS map

Presque Isle Township on the 1984 USGS map

1971Presque Isle sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Presque Isle Township.

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.

Retake this viewPresque Isle Light Station, Off SR 405, At North end Grand Lake Road

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

3 historic places in Presque Isle Township

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1973

Old Presque Isle Lighthouse

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lighthouse1

Rustic1

Old Presque Isle LighthouseLighthouse · Built 1840

Presque Isle Light StationBuilt 1870

Presque Isle LodgeRustic

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Presque Isle Township

Nobody well known was born in Presque Isle Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →

Lucille F. StickelAmerican wildlife toxicologist · b. 1915

Russell Vernon MackAmerican politician · b. 1891

Holly BruderAmerican softball coach · b. 1977

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Presque Isle Harbor2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Krakow TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Alpena Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Presque Isle Township’s history

What year was Presque Isle Township founded?

The Presque Isle Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Presque Isle Township rank for history?

Presque Isle Township is more historic than 46% 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 Presque Isle Township?

Three places: the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse (listed 1973), the Presque Isle Light Station (1983) and the Presque Isle Lodge (2008).

How old are the homes in Presque Isle Township?

3% of Presque Isle Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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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