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History · Stephenson

Stephenson’s post office opened in 1876, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1880.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Stephenson began

When was Stephenson founded?

1876

The Stephenson post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Wacedah (1874) and Waucedah (1877), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 180 in 18802020 census: 816150 years
Founding year: the first Stephenson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stephenson’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 Stephenson are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Stephenson.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stephenson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stephenson’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Stephenson’s post office has been open since 1876. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wacedah
1874–1876
Stephenson
1876–today
Waucedah
1877–1891
18701950today

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

The story

How Stephenson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stephenson.

Read it all →

A Chicago and North Western Railway station was established at the community in 1872. On July 13, 1874, a post office was opened here under the name of "Wacedah", with Alva F. Burnham as its postmaster. The post office was renamed after local leader Samuel M. Stephenson on January 10, 1876. After representing the community in the Michigan Legislature as both a representative and senator Stephenson would serve the community so named for him (and the remainder of what was then 12th district) in the United States Congress from 1889 to 1896. Stephenson incorporated as a village in 1898.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stephenson, 1874 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Wacedah post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Wacedah post office closes
  4. 1876Post officeThe Stephenson post office opens
  5. 1877Post officeThe Waucedah post office opens
  6. 1891Post officeThe Waucedah post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1927Born hereRobert Kendall is born here
  9. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Stephenson, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Stephenson welcome sign- south entry2024Stephenson welcome sign- south entryPioneer Grange Hall No. 13082019Pioneer Grange Hall No. 1308StephensonMichiganWelcomeSignUS412010StephensonMichiganWelcomeSignUS41StephensonMichiganSignUS412010StephensonMichiganSignUS41StephensonMichiganDowntown2US412010StephensonMichiganDowntown2US41StephensonMichiganDowntown1US412010StephensonMichiganDowntown1US41
On the map

Stephenson on the map, 1963 to 1982

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

Stephenson on the 1963 USGS mapStephenson on the 1982 USGS map1963Stephenson 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 Stephenson.

People over time

Stephenson, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 967

Between 180 and 967 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Stephenson’s history

What year was Stephenson founded?

The Stephenson post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.