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C+History
History · Tallmadge Township

Tallmadge Township’s post office opened in 1839

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #410 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Tallmadge Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1958 on.

1839first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers

How Tallmadge Township began

When was Tallmadge Township founded?

1839

The Tallmadge Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Tallmadge (1839) and Steele's Landing (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 8,802187 years

How historic is Tallmadge Township?

C+

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Tallmadge Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tallmadge Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #410 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tallmadge Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 42%

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 Tallmadge 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 B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 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 Tallmadge Township’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tallmadge Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tallmadge Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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.

Tallmadge
1839–1902
Steele's Landing
1851–1856
Lamont
1856–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grand ValleyLamontTallmadge
Gone or out of use
Tallmadge Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tallmadge Township
ChurchElmwoodMaplewoodMarneRosedale Memorial Park

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

Timeline

Tallmadge Township, 1839 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Tallmadge post office opens
  3. 1851Post officeThe Steele's Landing post office opens
  4. 1856Post officeThe Steele's Landing post office closes
  5. 1856Post officeThe Lamont post office opens
  6. 1888Born hereWilliam Zuiderveld is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902Post officeThe Tallmadge post office closes
  9. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Tallmadge Township, in brief

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

Tallmadge Charter Township is a charter township of Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,802 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,575 to 8,802 (+16%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Tallmadge Township on the map, 1958 to 1981

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

Tallmadge Township on the 1958 USGS mapTallmadge Township on the 1972 USGS mapTallmadge Township on the 1981 USGS map1958Grandville 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 Tallmadge Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Tallmadge Township’s history

What year was Tallmadge Township founded?

The Tallmadge Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Tallmadge Township rank for history?

Tallmadge Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #410 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 Tallmadge Township?

7% of Tallmadge Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1992.

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 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.