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History · Washington Township

32% of Washington Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on.

0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Washington 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 Washington Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Washington Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1965. Watch Washington Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Washington Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Washington 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
Places that used to be

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

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

Pompei
1856–1897
Bridgeville
1865–1896
Ola
1887–1904
Pompeii
1897–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BridgevilleOla
Gone or out of use
Bridgeville Post Officepost officeOla Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Washington Township
CollierHufford

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

On the map

Washington Township on the map, 1918 to 1965

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

Washington Township on the 1918 USGS mapWashington Township on the 1943 USGS mapWashington Township on the 1965 USGS map1918Perrinton 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 Washington Township.

The story so far

Washington Township, in brief

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

Washington Township is a civil township of Gratiot County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 813 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 870 to 813 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Washington Township, 1856 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Pompei post office opens
  3. 1865Post officeThe Bridgeville post office opens
  4. 1887Post officeThe Ola post office opens
  5. 1896Post officeThe Bridgeville post office closes
  6. 1897Post officeThe Pompei post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904Post officeThe Ola post office closes
  9. 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.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Washington Township

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

See all →
Daniel HenneyAmerican actor and model · b. 1979
Leo BurnettAmerican advertising executive · b. 1891
Robert AsprinAmerican science fiction and fantasy author · b. 1946
B
Bill KnottAmerican writer · b. 1940
Chris PatrickAmerican football player · b. 1984
Thomas M. KavanaghAmerican politician · b. 1909
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

North Star TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElba Township1 historic placeAFulton TownshipIts storyB−Greenbush TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Washington Township’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.