Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Rust Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Rust Township

Rust Township’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Rust Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1972 on.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rust Township began

When was Rust Township founded?

1903

The Rust Township post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rust (1903), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 519123 years
Founding year: the first Rust Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rust 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rust Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Rust Township, in brief

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

Rust Township is a civil township of Montmorency County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 519 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 561 to 519 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Rust Township, 1903 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903In the archivePlat map of Rust Township, Michigan (1903)
  3. 1903Post officeThe Rust post office opens
  4. 1930Post officeThe Rust post office closes
  5. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Rust Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Plat map of Rust Township, Michigan (1903)1903Plat map of Rust Township, Michigan (1903)Map
1910s–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
Rust Township, MI2025Rust Township, MI
On the map

Rust Township on the map, 1972 to 1983

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

Rust Township on the 1972 USGS mapRust Township on the 1983 USGS map1972Rust sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Rust Township

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

See all →
Lucille F. StickelAmerican wildlife toxicologist · b. 1915
Russell Vernon MackAmerican politician · b. 1891
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Rust, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Rust
Gone or out of use
Rust Post Officepost officeTurtle Lake Club Airportairport
1cemetery inside Rust Township
Rust

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Avery TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHillman TownshipIts storyCLoud TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClinton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen TownshipIts storyCOssineke TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Rust Township’s history

What year was Rust Township founded?

The Rust Township post office opened in 1903, 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), 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.