The Van Buren Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, South Plymouth (1830), West Huron (1834) and Van Buren (1835), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 30,375191 years
How historic is Van Buren Township?
C+
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Van Buren Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Van Buren Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Van Buren Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #455 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 Van Buren Township’s overall grade.
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 Van Buren 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 (±1.6 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 Van Buren Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
ATI HeliportairportDenton Post Officepost officeDenton StationlocaleFrench Landing Dam and Powerhouse Historical MarkerparkFrench Landing StationlocaleFrenchlanding Post Officepost officeRawsonville Post Officepost officeWillow Run Air Force Stationmilitary
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Van Buren Township
DentonDentonHillsideOtisvilleTyler Street
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Van Buren Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Van Buren Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Van Buren Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Romulus 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 Van Buren Township.
In 1800, settler Henry Snow came and settled on what is now the border with Ypsilanti Township, Washtenaw County which was originally called Snow's Landing.
A settlement of the Huron River received a post office on May 7, 1834, with the name of West Huron and postmaster Scott Vining. The township was formed by the State in 1835 and was soon renamed for Martin Van Buren, then vice president of the US. The post office name was also changed. On November 14, 1838, the Van Buren post office was moved to Rawsonville and assumed that name. On October 25, 1895, the Rawsonville post office was closed, only to reopen on November 20, 1895, and to close again on February 28, 1902.
The Van Buren Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Van Buren Township rank for history?
Van Buren Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #455 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 Van Buren Township?
5% of Van Buren Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
