Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Reese’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Reese is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Reese’s overall grade.
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 Reese’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points). Two sources give 1865.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Reese’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area of what is the village of Reese today was first settled in 1865 when Mrs. Louisa Woodruff and her son built the first home (near the current intersection of Reese and Saginaw roads.) The Saginaw-Watrousville plank road was opened in 1871, which increased access to the community from Saginaw and the surrounding area. In 1873, the Detroit and Bay City railroads were built and Hudson B. Blackman plotted a tract of land adjacent to the original community (near the current intersection of Saginaw and Meridian streets) and named it Reese, in honor of Alvin H. Reese the railroad superintendent.
In 1865, according to Wikidata. Reese’s post office opened in 1871.
How does Reese rank for history?
Reese is more historic than 37% 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.
How old are the homes in Reese?
16% of Reese’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (2) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2012
2012
