Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spencer Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spencer Township is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #587 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spencer Township’s overall grade.
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 Spencer 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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1861.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
What stands out about Spencer Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was first settled as early as 1846 by Cyrus Thomas. In 1855, Thomas Spencer settled in the area and founded the community of Spencer Mills. He served as the first postmaster when a post office was established on October 17, 1857. The township was organized in 1861 under the name Celsus but was soon renamed after Spencer. The post office at Spencer Mills operated until September 30, 1903. Griswold was another historic community that began before 1877 around a lumber mill and a shingle mill on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. The Griswold post office operated from March 13, 1877 until August 31, 1900.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spencer Township.
1985Cedar Springs sheet · 1:100,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Spencer Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Spencer Township
Nobody well known was born in Spencer Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1861, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Spencer Township’s post office opened in 1857.
How does Spencer Township rank for history?
Spencer Township is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #587 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.
How old are the homes in Spencer Township?
8% of Spencer Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1987.
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, 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.
