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History · Ubly

Ubly’s post office opened in 1880, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1900.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: DAZ14LPA · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Ubly began

When was Ubly founded?

1880

The Ubly post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 432 in 19002020 census: 836146 years
Founding year: the first Ubly post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ubly’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ubly’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ubly’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ubly came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ubly.

Read it all →

Built in 1907 by local contractor David Pierce, the Citizens Bank Block also housed a harness shop and a library. Albert Sleeper (1862–1934), who served in the Michigan State Senate and as governor, co-founded the bank with his uncle A. W. Merrell, taking sole ownership in 1900. Sleeper owned several other banks and extensive real estate. Sleeper and his wife, Mary Moore, set up a library in the space above the bank in 1908.

On February 25, 2004, a wolverine was spotted near Ubly, the first one sighted in Michigan in over 200 years.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ubly, 1904 to 1992

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904In the archiveMap of Ubly, Michigan (1904)
  3. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1992Born hereNicole Franzel is born here
By decade

Ubly, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Map of Ubly, Michigan (1904)1904Map of Ubly, Michigan (1904)Map
1910s–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
Today2 recent
UblyMI2015UblyMIMichigan Wind 1 near Ubly 2962967700 f833acdf27 o2008Michigan Wind 1 near Ubly 2962967700 f833acdf27 o
On the map

Ubly on the map, 1963 to 1984

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

Ubly on the 1963 USGS mapUbly on the 1984 USGS map1963Ubly 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 Ubly.

Every building

Ubly, building by building, 1901–1909

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Ubly fire insurance map, 1901, sheet 11901Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Ubly, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 899

Between 432 and 899 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Ubly’s history

What year was Ubly founded?

The Ubly post office opened in 1880, 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 (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.