Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #358 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Royalton Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 2000.
The Royalton Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Royalton (1833), Hollywood (1888) and Arden (1896), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Royalton Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #358 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Royalton 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Royalton Township’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Royalton Township.
Royalton Township was organized in 1835 and originally included portions of Lincoln Charter Township, Sodus Township, and St. Joseph Charter Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings 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 Royalton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Royalton Township.
Between 3,888 and 5,141 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Royalton Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Royalton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Royalton Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Royalton Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #358 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.
10% of Royalton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1988.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
