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History · Standish Township

Standish Township dates to 1871

Most of Standish Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1880.

1871founded
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Standish Township began

When was Standish Township founded?

1871

Standish Township dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 246 in 18802020 census: 1,701155 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1883.The full story ↓

What stands out about Standish Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Standish Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Standish Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Saganing
1883–1886
Worth
1886–1908
Saganing
1897–1914
Pine River
1899–1913
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Pine RiverSaganingWhites BeachWorth
Gone or out of use
Dudley AirportairportPine River Post Officepost officeSaganing Post Officepost officeWorth Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Standish Township
Pine RiverSaganing Indian Methodist MissionSaganing Indian Methodist Mission

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

Help out

Start Standish Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Standish 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
The story

How Standish Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Standish Township.

Read it all →

The town was platted by John D. Standish in 1871, who owned all of the land in the vicinity. Before the plat was formally recorded, Standish sold off some of his land in the area. The town was initially named Granton. John Standish owned the town's first business, a sawmill. He later had the town name changed back to Standish. Jackson and Lansing Railroad reached the community in 1871. The first hotel was built in Standish in 1871 and named The Standish House, by a sheriff of Bay County. The hotel went through several owners before it burned down in March 1902. In 1888 the railroad depot was built by local farmers in the area, each bringing their own materials to help with the construction. In 1898 the State Bank of Standish opened, (now Citizens Bank). Standish was incorporated as a village in 1893 with James Austin as its president, and later a city in 1903, with Mr. H. Randall as it…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Standish Township, 1871 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871
    FoundingStandish Township is established
  3. 1883Post officeThe Saganing post office opens
  4. 1886Post officeThe Saganing post office closes
  5. 1886Post officeThe Worth post office opens
  6. 1897Post officeThe Saganing post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1908Post officeThe Worth post office closes
  9. 1914Post officeThe Saganing post office closes
  10. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Standish Township, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Standish, MI (2025)2025Standish, MI (2025)Standish, MI location2019Standish, MI locationShopko2017ShopkoMichigan Central Railroad Depot2008Michigan Central Railroad DepotMIMap-doton-Standish2005MIMap-doton-Standish
On the map

Standish Township on the map, 1967 to 1973

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

Standish Township on the 1967 USGS mapStandish Township on the 1973 USGS map1967Standish sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Standish Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,581

Between 246 and 1,581 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPinconning TownshipIts storyC−Arenac TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStandish1 historic placeB+

Questions about Standish Township’s history

What year was Standish Township founded?

In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Standish Township’s post office opened in 1883, and the census of 1880 counted 246 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), 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.