Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Superior Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Superior Township

Superior Township’s post office opened in 1838, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #307 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Superior Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Its Register listing is the Dixboro United Methodist Church. Below: 10 old photos and papers and maps from 1902 on.

1838first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Superior Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Superior Township began

When was Superior Township founded?

1838

The Superior Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Dixboro (1825), Dixborough (1836) and Superior (1838), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 14,832188 years

How historic is Superior Township?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Superior Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Superior Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Superior Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #307 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Superior Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1838, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19404.3% of homes (±2.0) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 0.7 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 56%

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 Superior Township’s 0.7 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Superior 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 Superior Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19027 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1980. Watch Superior Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Superior Township.
★ 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.

Dixboro
1825–1836
Dixborough
1836–1863
Superior
1838–1863
Dixboro
1890–1905
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DixboroFrain LakeSuperiorWestridge Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Dixboro Post Officepost officePanama Township Methodist ChurchchurchSuperior Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Superior Township
Oak GrovePraySunset HillsUnited Memorial Gardens

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

On the map

Superior Township on the map, 1902 to 1980

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

Superior Township on the 1902 USGS mapSuperior Township on the 1936 USGS mapSuperior Township on the 1942 USGS mapSuperior Township on the 1953 USGS mapSuperior Township on the 1969 USGS mapSuperior Township on the 1973 USGS mapSuperior Township on the 1980 USGS map1902South Lyon 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 Superior Township.

Timeline

Superior Township, 1825 to 1902

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825Post officeThe Dixboro post office opens
  3. 1836Post officeThe Dixboro post office closes
  4. 1836Post officeThe Dixborough post office opens
  5. 1838Post officeThe Superior post office opens
  6. 1851Born hereW. Allison Sweeney is born here
  7. 1858BuiltDixboro United Methodist Church is built
  8. 1863Post officeThe Dixborough post office closes
  9. 1863Post officeThe Superior post office closes
  10. 1880In the archiveBoating off Presque Isle
  11. 1895In the archiveStandard atlas of Washtenaw County, Michigan - including a plat book of the villages, cit…
  12. 20th century
  13. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Superior Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Superior Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Superior Charter Township is a charter township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,832 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1838. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 13,058 to 14,832 (+14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Superior Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s10 items
Boating off Presque Isle1880Boating off Presque IsleMarquette, Mich., Arch Rock, Presque Isle1880Marquette, Mich., Arch Rock, Presque IsleStandard atlas of Washtenaw County, Michigan - including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the count…1895Standard atlas of Washtenaw County, Michigan - includ…MapPulpit Rock, Presque Isle [Park], Lake Superior1898Pulpit Rock, Presque Isle [Park], Lake SuperiorArch Rock, Presque Isle [Park], Lake Superior1898Arch Rock, Presque Isle [Park], Lake SuperiorThe Drive on Presque Isle [Park], Lake Superior1898The Drive on Presque Isle [Park], Lake SuperiorArch Rock, Presque Isle, Marquette, Mich1898Arch Rock, Presque Isle, Marquette, MichMarquette, Mich. near Pulpit Rock, Presque Isle1898Marquette, Mich. near Pulpit Rock, Presque IslePulpit Rock, Presque Isle, Marquette, Mich1898Pulpit Rock, Presque Isle, Marquette, MichPulpit Rock, Presque Isle, near Marquette, Mich1898Pulpit Rock, Presque Isle, near Marquette, Mich
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Boating off Presque Isle
Retake this viewBoating off Presque Isle, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Superior Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Superior Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Dixboro United Methodist Church
Dixboro United Methodist Church, built 1858
Buildings
Dixboro United Methodist ChurchBuilt 1858

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

Help out

Finish Superior Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBoating off Presque Isle: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ann Arbor Township1 historic placeB+Ypsilanti TownshipIts storyC+Salem Township1 historic placeA−Canton Township13 historic placesB

Questions about Superior Township’s history

What year was Superior Township founded?

The Superior Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Superior Township rank for history?

Superior Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #307 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 Superior Township?

One place: the Dixboro United Methodist Church (listed 1972).

How old are the homes in Superior Township?

4% of Superior 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 1994.

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 (1), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.