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DHistory
History · Roscommon Township

Half of Roscommon Township’s homes were built after 1978

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #690 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Roscommon Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1954 on.

0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

About Roscommon Township’s history

How historic is Roscommon Township?

D

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Roscommon Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roscommon Township is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #690 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Roscommon Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19401.7% of homes (±1.8) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 12%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 2%

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 Roscommon Township’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Roscommon 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 writtenNo old photos of Roscommon Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Roscommon Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Roscommon Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Houghton Lake
1875–today
Loxley
1904–1921
The Heights
1923–1956
Houghton Lake Heights
1956–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Houghton LakeHoughton Lake HeightsLoxley
Gone or out of use
Headquarters Oil and Gas FieldoilfieldLoxley Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Roscommon Township
Roscommon Township

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

The story so far

Roscommon Township, in brief

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

Roscommon Township is a civil township of Roscommon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. The village of Roscommon is located to the northeast in Higgins Township.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,411 in 2010, 4,397 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Roscommon Township, 1875 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Houghton Lake post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Loxley post office opens
  5. 1921Post officeThe Loxley post office closes
  6. 1923Post officeThe The Heights post office opens
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1956Post officeThe The Heights post office closes
By decade

Roscommon Township, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Houghton Lake, Michigan along M-552021Houghton Lake, Michigan along M-55Houghton Lake, MI post office2021Houghton Lake, MI post officeBear Creek (Roscommon County, Michigan)2020Bear Creek (Roscommon County, Michigan)Roscommon Township, MI location2019Roscommon Township, MI locationRoscommon Township Offices (Michigan)2019Roscommon Township Offices (Michigan)
On the map

Roscommon Township on the map, 1954 to 1983

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

Roscommon Township on the 1954 USGS mapRoscommon Township on the 1983 USGS map1954Traverse City sheet · 1:250,000

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Denton TownshipIts storyC−Butterfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNester Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHolland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake TownshipIts storyDFranklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFrost TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Roscommon Township’s history

How does Roscommon Township rank for history?

Roscommon Township is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #690 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.

How old are the homes in Roscommon Township?

2% of Roscommon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (5), 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.