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History · Quinnesec

Quinnesec’s post office opened in 1891

Most of Quinnesec was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1880 on.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Quinnesec began

When was Quinnesec founded?

1891

The Quinnesec post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,083135 years
Founding year: the first Quinnesec post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Quinnesec’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Quinnesec’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Quinnesec, in brief

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

Quinnesec is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Dickinson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,083 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Iron Mountain, MI–WI Micropolitan Statistical Area. Quinnesec is in Breitung Charter Township on the Menominee River, which forms the boundary with Wisconsin. It is on U.S. Highway 2 about 3 miles (5 km) east of Iron Mountain and 3 miles (5 km) west of Norway at 45°48′23″N 87°59′18″W. The ZIP code is 49876.

Its first post office opened in 1891. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,191 to 1,083 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Quinnesec, 1880 to 1897

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Dickinson County - Quinnesec - ED 22-6…
  3. 1890Born hereScott Beal is born here
  4. 1897In the archiveSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Iron Mountain, Dickinson County, Michigan. LOC sanborn040…
By decade

Quinnesec, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Dickinson County - Quinnesec - ED 22-6, ED 22-718801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Di…Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Iron Mountain, Dickinson County, Michigan. LOC sanborn04052 004-121897Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Iron Mountain, Dickin…Map
1900s–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
Today4 recent
Quinnesec mill in Michigan2024Quinnesec mill in MichiganQuinnesec United Methodist Church2019Quinnesec United Methodist ChurchQuinnesec, MI location2018Quinnesec, MI locationMIMap-doton-Quinnesec2005MIMap-doton-Quinnesec
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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Dickinson County - Quinnesec - ED 22-6, ED 22-7
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Michigan - Dickinson County - Quinnesec - ED 22-6, ED 22-7, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Breitung Township1 historic placeB

Questions about Quinnesec’s history

What year was Quinnesec founded?

The Quinnesec post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6) and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.