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A−History
History · Vergennes Township

Vergennes Township’s post office opened in 1837, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #164 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Vergennes Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 14 buildings. Below: maps from 1918 on.

1837first post office
2on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vergennes Township began

When was Vergennes Township founded?

1837

The Vergennes Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Vergennes (1837), Vergennes (1848) and Alton (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 4,741189 years

How historic is Vergennes Township?

A−

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Vergennes Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vergennes Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #164 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vergennes Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19406.6% of homes (±3.6) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 14 historic buildings, 28.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 77%

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 Vergennes Township’s 28.8 sits above most of its state (88% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 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 Vergennes Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Vergennes Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Vergennes Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1978. Watch Vergennes Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Vergennes Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Vergennes
1837–1837
Vergennes
1848–1871
Alton
1851–1900
Fallassburg
1851–1901
Vergennes
1900–1909
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AltonFallassburg
Gone or out of use
Fallassburg Post Officepost officeVergennes Post Officepost office
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vergennes Township
AltonFallassFoxes CornersKrum BlandingSaint MaryVergennes

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

Help out

Start Vergennes Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vergennes 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
On the map

Vergennes Township on the map, 1918 to 1978

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

Vergennes Township on the 1918 USGS mapVergennes Township on the 1943 USGS mapVergennes Township on the 1978 USGS map1918Lowell 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 Vergennes Township.

The story

How Vergennes Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vergennes Township.

Read it all →

The area was first settled in 1836 by Sylvester Hodges from New York. The first post office as established on August 12, 1837 but was soon discontinued on November 1, 1837. The area was organized as Vergennes Township in 1838. Part of Vergennes Township was split off in 1840 to form part of Caledonia Township (Township 5 North, Range 9 West), eventually removed in 1849 to form Bowne Township. The post office as reestablished on October 9, 1848 until April 14, 1871. The nearby Alton post office was relocated and renamed Vergennes from June 11, 1900 until December 31, 1909.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vergennes Township, 1837 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Vergennes post office opens
  3. 1837Post officeThe Vergennes post office closes
  4. 1848Post officeThe Vergennes post office opens
  5. 1851Post officeThe Alton post office opens
  6. 1871BuiltFallasburg Covered Bridge is built
  7. 1871Post officeThe Vergennes post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900Post officeThe Alton post office closes
  10. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 National Register

2 listings protect 14 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
14
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Fallasburg Covered Bridge
Fallasburg Covered Bridge, built 1871Fallasburg Historic District
DistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Covered Bridge1
Greek Revival1
Fallasburg Covered BridgeCovered Bridge · Built 1871
Fallasburg Historic DistrictGreek Revival

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Vergennes Township

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

See all →
S
Sean LewisAmerican soccer player · b. 1992
B
Brian HydeAmerican distance runner · b. 1972
H
Howard Henry PeckhamAmerican historian · b. 1910
H
Hugh BlacklockAmerican football player · b. 1893
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lowell2 historic placesAAda Township1 historic placeB−Grattan TownshipIts storyB−Keene TownshipIts storyC+Forest Hills2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLowell TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Vergennes Township’s history

What year was Vergennes Township founded?

The Vergennes Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Vergennes Township rank for history?

Vergennes Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #164 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.

What is on the National Register in Vergennes Township?

Two places: the Fallasburg Covered Bridge (listed 1972) and the Fallasburg Historic District (1999).

How old are the homes in Vergennes Township?

7% of Vergennes Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 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 →
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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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.