Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns · #230 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Most of Webster Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Gordon Hall. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1902 on.
The Webster Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Webster (1833) and Walsh (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Webster Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #230 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Webster Township’s 1.5 sits above most of its state (67% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Webster Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Webster Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Webster Township.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Webster Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Webster Township is a civil township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,575 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1833. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,784 to 6,575 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveStandard atlas of Washtenaw County, Michigan - including a plat book of the villages, cit…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2012Bucolic Vista, Farrell Road, Webster Township, Michig…
2011Williams family cemetery, John Williams House histori…
2011Webster Township, MI, USA
2011John Williams House Webster Township Michigan
2010Webster Township Wheeler Blacksmith Shop
2010Webster Township Webster Church
2010Webster Township Webster Church Historical Marker
2010Webster Township Old Town Hall Historical Marker
2010Webster Township Hall
2010Webster Township Farm
2010Webster Old Town HallThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Webster Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Webster Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #230 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.
One place: the Gordon Hall (listed 1972).
8% of Webster Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1991.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
