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History · West Branch Township

Half of West Branch Township’s homes were built after 1982

Most of West Branch Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1957 on.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about West Branch 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 West Branch Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s West Branch Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Branch Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Branch Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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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.

Bryden
1901–1904
Alfred
1903–1910
Ralph
1904–1971
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlfredRalph
Gone or out of use
Alfred Post Officepost officeAlfred StationlocaleRalph Post Officepost officeRalph Stationlocale
1cemetery inside West Branch Township
Ralph Cemetery - Whispering Pines

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

The story so far

West Branch Township, in brief

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

West Branch Township is a civil township of Dickinson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 51 at the 2020 census. With a population density of only 0.458/sq mi (0.177/km2), the township ranks as the least-densely populated municipality in the state of Michigan. It is also the third least-populated after Pointe Aux Barques Township (15) and Grand Island Township (35).

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 63 to 51 (-19%).

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

Timeline

West Branch Township, 1901 to 1971

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Bryden post office opens
  3. 1903Post officeThe Alfred post office opens
  4. 1904Post officeThe Bryden post office closes
  5. 1904Post officeThe Ralph post office opens
  6. 1910Post officeThe Alfred post office closes
  7. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1971Post officeThe Ralph post office closes
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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On the map

West Branch Township on the map, 1957 to 1986

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

West Branch Township on the 1957 USGS mapWest Branch Township on the 1986 USGS map1957Northland 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 West Branch Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to West Branch Township

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

See all →
Glenn Theodore SeaborgAmerican chemist · b. 1912
Kelly JohnsonAmerican aerospace engineer · b. 1910
John D. VoelkerAmerican judge and writer · b. 1903
Patrick Daniel NortonAmerican politician · b. 1876
Henry HallAmerican ski jumper · b. 1893
Pam ReedAmerican ultra marathon runner · b. 1961
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Felch TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBreen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townForsyth Township1 historic placeBTilden TownshipIts storyC+Ely Township1 historic placeBWells Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about West Branch 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.