Richland Township’s post office opened in 1840, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #141 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Richland Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 67 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1880.
From Richland Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Richland Township began
When was Richland Township founded?
1840
The Richland Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Geloster (1831) and Spring Brook (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 223 in 18802020 census: 8,693186 years
How historic is Richland Township?
A−
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Richland Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Richland Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richland Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #141 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Richland Township’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 Richland Township’s 75.6 sits above most of its state (93% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 67 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 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 Richland Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Richland is located in the middle of what was once the Gull Prairie, an upland area relatively free of trees and maintained by natural and man-made fires. The area had a few Pottawatamie villages, one was located on the west side of nearby Gull Lake. Fish and game were plentiful, and the land was very fertile. Since there were few trees to clear, the prairie was among the first areas of Kalamazoo County to be settled. By the 1830s, the Native Americans had been forced west, and Richland was a thriving frontier village. The village even contended with Prairie Ronde for the county seat, but the centrally located village of Bronson (now Kalamazoo) was ultimately chosen.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Richland Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Galesburg 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 Richland 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 viewKedzie House Richland MI, 1907
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Richland Township’s page.
The Richland Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Richland Township rank for history?
Richland Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #141 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 Richland Township?
One place: the Richland Historic District (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Richland Township?
6% of Richland Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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