Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Union 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
–Not graded
History · Union Township

1 of Union Township’s places is on the National Register

Most of Union Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the Fife Lake-Union District No. 1 Schoolhouse. Below: maps from 1956 on.

1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Union Township’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 Union Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Union Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union Township’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
The story so far

Union Township, in brief

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

Union Township is a civil township of Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 514 at the 2020 Census, making it the least populous township in the county. Much of Union Township is protected by the Traverse City Management Unit of the Pere Marquette State Forest.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 405 to 468 (+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

Union Township on the map, 1956 to 1985

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

Union Township on the 1956 USGS mapUnion Township on the 1985 USGS map1956Fife Lake 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 Union Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Union 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
1987
Fife Lake-Union District No. 1 Schoolhouse
Fife Lake-Union District No. 1 Schoolhouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Fife Lake-Union District No. 1 SchoolhouseLate Victorian

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Union Township

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

See all →
Jeremy DaviesAmerican actor · b. 1969
B
Barry WatsonAmerican actor · b. 1974
Dan MajerleAmerican basketball player · b. 1965
David WayneAmerican actor · b. 1914
C
Craig ThompsonAmerican graphic novelist · b. 1975
William MillikenAmerican politician · b. 1922
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Jacks Landing
1cemetery inside Union Township
Northrup Grave

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Boardman TownshipIts storyCWhitewater TownshipIts storyC−East Bay TownshipIts storyC−Fife Lake TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Union Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Union Township?

One place: the Fife Lake-Union District No. 1 Schoolhouse (listed 1987).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.