Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #426 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Below: maps from 1931 on.
The Shelby Township post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Blooming Valley (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shelby Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #426 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Shelby 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 Shelby Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Shelby Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Shelby is a civil township of Oceana County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,109 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1866. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,069 in 2010, 4,109 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereSamuel Odell is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born herePete Tillotson is born here
Born hereBrad Smith is born here
Born hereJosh Jacobs is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shelby 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 Shelby Township.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, Blooming Valley, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Shelby Township post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Shelby Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #426 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.
22% of Shelby Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (2), 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.
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