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History · Rothbury

Rothbury’s post office opened in 1879

Most of Rothbury was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1911 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rothbury’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rothbury began

When was Rothbury founded?

1879

The Rothbury post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 462147 years
Founding year: the first Rothbury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Rothbury’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPere Marquette Depot: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Rothbury, in brief

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

Rothbury is a general law village in Grant Township, Oceana County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Rothbury had a population of 462.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 432 to 462 (+7%).

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

By decade

Rothbury, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Pere Marquette Depot1911Pere Marquette Depot
1920s–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
Today1 recent
Our Lady of Assumption-Rothbury2020Our Lady of Assumption-Rothbury
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.

Pere Marquette Depot
Retake this viewPere Marquette Depot, 1911

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Rothbury

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

See all →
Evan BruinsmaAmerican basketball player · b. 1992
V
Verna AardemaAmerican children's writer · b. 1911
S
Steven RinellaAmerican outdoorsman · b. 1974

Questions about Rothbury’s history

What year was Rothbury founded?

The Rothbury post office opened in 1879, 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 (2). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.