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History · Winn

Winn’s post office opened in 1867

Most of Winn was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1954. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1916 on.

1867first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Winn’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Winn began

When was Winn founded?

1867

The Winn post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 166159 years
Founding year: the first Winn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Winn’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Winn’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Winn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winn’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWinn, Michigan (1910): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Winn came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winn.

Read it all →

Fremont Township was sparsely settled at the time when it was formally organized in 1863, and the area's population grew enough to warrant a new log house post office. Mr. Winn settled in the area and established the first post office under his name on December 19, 1867. Franklin Williams served as the first postmaster, and he also agreed on the name Winn for the new community.

ChaptersRecent history

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Winn, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s2 items
Winn, Michigan (1910)1920Winn, Michigan (1910)Winn, Michigan (early 1900s)1920Winn, Michigan (early 1900s)
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Winn, Michigan (2022)2022Winn, Michigan (2022)Fremont Township, Michigan library2022Fremont Township, Michigan libraryFremont Township (Winn, MI) fire department2022Fremont Township (Winn, MI) fire departmentFremont Township (Winn) Community Center, MI2022Fremont Township (Winn) Community Center, MI
On the map

Winn on the map, 1916 to 1973

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

Winn on the 1916 USGS mapWinn on the 1973 USGS map1916Mount Pleasant 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 Winn.

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.

Winn, Michigan (1910)
Retake this viewWinn, Michigan (1910), 1920

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Winn’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Winn’s history

What year was Winn founded?

The Winn post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.