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–Not graded
History · Birch Creek

Half of Birch Creek’s homes were built after 1983

Most of Birch Creek was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1990.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Birch Creek’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 Birch Creek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Birch Creek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Birch Creek’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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The story

How Birch Creek came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Birch Creek.

Read it all →

The six-mile squares that would become Lake Holcombe were surveyed in June, 1852 by crews working for the U.S. government. That fall a different crew marked all the section corners, walking through the woods and wading the swamps, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description of the six-miles square in the center of Birch Creek:

The surface of this Township is generally rolling and the uplands fit for cultivation. The timber is chiefly pine Hemlock Cedar & Tamarac. There are several small Swamp all unfit for cultivation. The streams are all small branches. (?) Millery privileges in this Township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

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On the map

Birch Creek on the map, 1973 to 1980

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

Birch Creek on the 1973 USGS mapBirch Creek on the 1980 USGS map1973Cornell sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Birch Creek.

People over time

Birch Creek, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 520

Between 495 and 520 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Birch Creek’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Birch Creek

Nobody well known was born in Birch Creek itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ron KovicAnti-war activist · b. 1946
Lois CappsAmerican politician and writer · b. 1938
Jim LeonhardAmerican football player and coach · b. 1982
B
Beverley AndersonAmerican alpine skier · b. 1938
M
Mark HayesAmerican composer · b. 1953
M
Mike NewkirkPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1986
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Birch Creek SchoolschoolFirth SchoolschoolLa Rose SchoolschoolPleasant Ridge Schoolschool

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lake HolcombeIts storyCHolcombeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSampsonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClevelandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Birch Creek’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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.