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B−History
History · Spring Lake Township

Spring Lake Township’s post office opened in 1867, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #397 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Spring Lake Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listings are the Aloys Bilz House and the Fruitport Road-Pettys Bayou Bridge. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1860.

1867first post office
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Spring Lake Township began

When was Spring Lake Township founded?

1867

The Spring Lake Township post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Nortonville (1846) and Mill Point (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 179 in 18602020 census: 15,296159 years

How historic is Spring Lake Township?

B−

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Spring Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Spring Lake Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spring Lake Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #397 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring Lake Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1867, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.5% of homes (±2.0) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 1.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 43%

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 Spring Lake Township’s 1.3 sits above most of its state (67% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Spring Lake 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 writtenNo old photos of Spring Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1880 and 1900, then grew 3-fold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Spring Lake Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spring Lake Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Spring Lake Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900195020001,372 in 1880Low: 696

Lost half of its people between 1880 and 1900, then grew 3-fold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spring Lake Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Nortonville
1846–1876
Mill Point
1851–1867
Spring Lake
1867–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Country Estates Mobile Home ParkHidden Oaks Mobile Home ParkSpring Lake
Gone or out of use
Nortonville Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Spring Lake Township
Spring Lake

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

The story

How Spring Lake Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spring Lake Township.

Read it all →

In 1837, Captain Benjamin Hopkins purchased land in the area and built a mill. The place became known as "Hopkins Mill". In 1849, Thomas W. White and S.C. Hopkins recorded a plat with the name "Mill Point". A post office was established with that name in May 1851. In May 1867, the post office was renamed "Spring Lake", which was also the name of a station on the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway (later part of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad). The Village of Spring Lake was incorporated in 1869. The post office continues to operate, with ZIP code 49456.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spring Lake Township, 1846 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Nortonville post office opens
  3. 1851Post officeThe Mill Point post office opens
  4. 1867Post officeThe Mill Point post office closes
  5. 1867Post officeThe Spring Lake post office opens
  6. 1872BuiltAloys Bilz House is built
  7. 1876Post officeThe Nortonville post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1948BuiltFruitport Road-Pettys Bayou Bridge is built
  11. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 3,034
By decade

Spring Lake Township, decade by decade

Today5 recent
North Beach Park on Lake Michigan near Ferrysburg2019North Beach Park on Lake Michigan near FerrysburgDune restoration at north beach park2019Dune restoration at north beach parkAnnagail ssu2019Annagail ssuAloys Bilz House2013Aloys Bilz HouseMIMap-doton-SpringLake2005MIMap-doton-SpringLake
On the map

Spring Lake Township on the map, 1930 to 1972

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

Spring Lake Township on the 1930 USGS mapSpring Lake Township on the 1972 USGS map1930Muskegon sheet · 1:62,500

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

On the National Register

2 historic places in Spring Lake Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Aloys Bilz House
Aloys Bilz House, built 1872Fruitport Road-Pettys Bayou Bridge, built 1948
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Italianate1
Steel Stringer Bridge1
Aloys Bilz HouseLate Victorian · Built 1872
Fruitport Road-Pettys Bayou BridgeSteel Stringer Bridge · Built 1948

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

FerrysburgIts storyCSpring Lake1 historic placeB+Grand Haven TownshipIts storyC−Crockery TownshipIts storyCGrand Haven6 historic placesAFruitport TownshipIts storyC−Norton ShoresIts storyD

Questions about Spring Lake Township’s history

What year was Spring Lake Township founded?

The Spring Lake Township post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Spring Lake Township rank for history?

Spring Lake Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #397 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.

What is on the National Register in Spring Lake Township?

Two places: the Aloys Bilz House (listed 1987) and the Fruitport Road-Pettys Bayou Bridge (1999).

How old are the homes in Spring Lake Township?

9% of Spring Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1987.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.