Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Zilwaukee Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1963. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1880.
Zilwaukee Township dates its founding to 1848 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Zilwaukee Township’s history is told.
Peaked at 2,201 in 1980; 1,534 people lived here in 2020.
7 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Zilwaukee Township’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveAtlas of Saginaw Co., Michigan - from recent and actual surveys and records
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Zilwaukee Township.
Zilwaukee was founded in 1848 when Daniel and Solomon Johnson, two brothers from New York City, built a saw mill there.
The provenance of the town's name is unknown, but local legends hold that it was a deliberate attempt to attract immigrants who thought they were heading for the larger Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Zilwaukee Township.
1954Flint sheet · 1:250,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Zilwaukee Township.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1848, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 915 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2019