Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Wakefield

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
B−History
History · Wakefield

Wakefield’s post office opened in 1887, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1887first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Wakefield began

When was Wakefield founded?

1887

The Wakefield post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,702139 years

How historic is Wakefield?

B−

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Wakefield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wakefield is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wakefield’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194034.8% of homes (±6.2) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 53%
NewerOlder

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 Wakefield’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 (±6.2 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 Wakefield’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 Wakefield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Wakefield’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wakefield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wakefield’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

How Wakefield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wakefield.

Read it all →

George Mix Wakefield, born February 6, 1839, in Henderson, New York, a son of James Patterson Wakefield and Hannah B. Hall, had the town site of Wakefield platted in May 1886; the general location was already being referred to as "Wakefield" as early as the fall of 1884. His parents moved their family to Waukesha County, Wisconsin in October 1844. Mr. Wakefield became interested in logging and real estate and acquired vast tracts of land in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 1870s and 1880s. Together with various other capitalists he built sawmills and logged the pine forests of the area, and later became involved in mineral exploration. He was one of the parties who held interests in the mineral rights to the Sunday Lake mine, as well as a few nearby properties.

ChaptersFoundingGeorge M. WakefieldIncorporationMining boom

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wakefield, 1887 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Wakefield post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1919Born hereGeorge R. Cavender is born here
  5. 1964Born hereBobby Jurasin is born here
By decade

Wakefield, decade by decade

Today6 recent
OldWakefieldHighSchool (1)2020OldWakefieldHighSchool (1)Wakefield-Suomiseura2011Wakefield-SuomiseuraSunday Lake Boardwalk2011Sunday Lake BoardwalkSunday Lake2010Sunday Lake2009-0617-CityHall-Wakefield20092009-0617-CityHall-WakefieldWakefield Memorial Building MSP Post2006Wakefield Memorial Building MSP Post
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Wakefield

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
B
Bobby JurasinPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1964
George R. CavenderAmerican music educator, marching band director · b. 1919
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Wakefield’s post office has been open since 1887.

Hamlets and corners on the map
PlymouthWico
Gone or out of use
Plymouth MinemineSunday Lake MinemineWakefield Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Wakefield
Lakeside

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Wakefield Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBessemer Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Wakefield’s history

What year was Wakefield founded?

The Wakefield post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Wakefield rank for history?

Wakefield is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. 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 Wakefield?

35% of Wakefield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1948.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.