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CHistory
History · Superior Township

Superior Township’s post office opened in 1888

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Superior Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1951 on.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
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?

1888

The Superior Township post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Superior (1888) and Wellsburg (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,276138 years

How historic is Superior Township?

C

More historic than 26% 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 26% of U.S. towns. 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 Superior Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.5% of homes (±4.2) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder

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 0.0 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 still be C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 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 Superior Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Superior Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1898.
★ What stands out · 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.

Superior
1888–1896
Wellsburg
1889–1909
Brimley
1896–today
Raco
1915–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrimleyDorgans CrossingRaco
Gone or out of use
Brimley StationlocaleRaco Army Air FieldmilitaryRaco FieldairportRaco StationlocaleWellsburg Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Superior Township
BayviewHillcrest

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

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–1890s12 items
Boating off Presque Isle1880Boating off Presque IsleMarquette, Mich., Arch Rock, Presque Isle1880Marquette, Mich., Arch Rock, Presque IslePulpit 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 SuperiorThe Drive, Presque Isle, near Marquette, Mich1898The Drive, Presque Isle, near Marquette, MichArch 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, MichPulpit Rock, Presque Isle. Near Marqueet [sic], Mich1898Pulpit Rock, Presque Isle. Near Marqueet [sic], MichPulpit Rock, Presque Isle. Near Marqueet [sic], Mich1898Pulpit Rock, Presque Isle. Near Marqueet [sic], 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
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 Township is a civil township of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,276 at the 2020 census. The federally recognized Bay Mills Indian Community has part of its land base reservation in Superior Township, based west of Brimley. It operates two casinos on its reservation, one of which is in Superior Township, to generate funds for education and welfare of its people. Brimley State Park is also within the township on the shores of Lake Superior.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,337 to 1,276 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Superior Township, 1880 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archiveBoating off Presque Isle
  3. 1888Post officeThe Superior post office opens
  4. 1889Post officeThe Wellsburg post office opens
  5. 1896Post officeThe Superior post office closes
  6. 1896Post officeThe Brimley post office opens
  7. 1898In the archivePulpit Rock, Presque Isle [Park], Lake Superior
  8. 20th century
  9. 1909Post officeThe Wellsburg post office closes
  10. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Superior Township on the map, 1951 to 1976

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 1951 USGS mapSuperior Township on the 1976 USGS map1951Dollar Settlement 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 Superior Township.

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
Famous people

Famous people close to Superior Township

Nobody well known was born in Superior Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Terry O'QuinnAmerican actor · b. 1952
Taffy AbelIce hockey player from the United States · b. 1900
B
Bob BemerAmerican computer scientist and aerospace engin… · b. 1920
D
Dick LundyAmerican animator · b. 1907
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft19th century American Indian literary author · b. 1800
Bernice SteadmanAmerican aviator and autobiographer · b. 1925
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.

Bay Mills Township1 historic placeB−Kinross Township1 historic placeCDafter TownshipIts storyCChippewa Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Superior Township’s history

What year was Superior Township founded?

The Superior Township post office opened in 1888, 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 26% of U.S. towns. 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 Superior Township?

8% of Superior Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 the Library of Congress (12), 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.