Photo: Dwight Burdette (User:Deedeebee) · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers
How York Township began
When was York Township founded?
1834
The York Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Mooresville (1833), York (1834) and Nora (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 9,108192 years
How historic is York Township?
B−
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first York Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives York Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, York Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #389 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of York 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 York 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about York Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mooresville
1833–1834
York
1834–1907
Nora
1879–1887
Urania
1879–1914
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MoorevilleYork
Gone or out of use
Nora Post Officepost officeNora StationlocaleUrania Post Officepost officeUrania StationlocaleYork Post Officepost officeYpsilanti State Hospitalhospital
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside York Township
JuddMarble ParkMoorevilleYork
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
York Township on the map, 1902 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of York Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Ypsilanti 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 York Township.
The area that is now York Township was first settled in 1824, and organized into York Township on March 7, 1834. The township was named York due to the large number of residents originating from New York. The township's first clerk was Othniel Gooding.
The Federal Correctional Institution, Milan was built in 1933 in York Township. The prison is notable for carrying out the only execution in the state's history, despite the state abolishing the death penalty in 1847. Tony Chebatoris, who was convicted on federal charges related to bank robbery and murder, received the death penalty at Milan in 1938. He is buried at Marble Park Cemetery in York Township.
The York Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does York Township rank for history?
York Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #389 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.
How old are the homes in York Township?
8% of York Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
