The St. Charles Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fergus (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,317 in 19002020 census: 3,183172 years
How historic is St. Charles Township?
C+
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first St. Charles Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives St. Charles Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Charles Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #504 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 St. Charles 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 St. Charles 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). 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 St. Charles Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
St. Charles Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of St. Charles Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
St. Charles is a village in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located in the northwest corner of St. Charles Township with portions of the village located within Brant and Swan Creek townships. As of the 2020 census, St. Charles had a population of 1,992.
Its first post office opened in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,330 to 3,183 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
St. Charles Township, 1854 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Charles Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1917St Charles 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 St. Charles Township.
People over time
St. Charles Township, census by census
Between 1,300 and 2,276 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Charles Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The St. Charles Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does St. Charles Township rank for history?
St. Charles Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #504 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 St. Charles Township?
16% of St. Charles Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1966.
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), 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.
2019
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