Most of Warren Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Warren Township is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Warren 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 Warren 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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Warren Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew 3-fold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Warren Township’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Warren Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Warren Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Warren Township is a civil township of Midland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,040 at the 2020 census. The township surrounds the city of Coleman, but the two are administered autonomously.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,119 to 2,040 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Warren Township, 1888 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Warren Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1969Coleman 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 Warren Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewGeneral Motors Technical Center, 1980
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Warren Township’s page.
Warren Township is more historic than 24% 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 Warren Township?
7% of Warren Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 the Library of Congress (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1980
1980
