Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1948 on.
The Sharon Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Richfield (1832) and Sharon (1836), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sharon Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Sharon 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sharon Township’s history is told.
Two 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereEdward P. Allen is born here
In the archiveStandard atlas of Washtenaw County, Michigan - including a plat book of the villages, cit…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sharon Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sharon Township is a civil township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,817 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,737 to 1,817 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2019Sharon Township, MI location
2012Vintage Automobiles in a Front Yard, 4260 Sylvan Road…
2012Sharon District Number 1 School, (1890), East Pleasan…
2012Rolls of Hay in a Field, ~18700-19098 Wingate Road
2012North Sharon Baptist Church, 17999 Washburn Road
2010Sharon Township Townhall
2010Sharon Township Sharon Mills County Park
2010Sharon Township River Raisin
2010Sharon Township Farmer Gravel Pit
2010Sharon Township Fair View FarmEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sharon 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 Sharon Township.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Sharon Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Sharon Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. 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.
24% of Sharon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
