Towns, Michigan: A Town That Failed to Exist in Branch County

When it comes to Michigan, there are towns and there are towns.
And then there's Towns.
This one of those places that is difficult when it comes to finding information.

It's the 'town' of Towns, in Branch County. Try to search the internet for 'Towns, Branch County' or 'Towns, Michigan' or even 'Towns, Branch County, Algansee Township, Michigan' and what do you get? A list of towns...NOT the 'town' of Towns....but regular towns.

But I do have some scant info on this place. It's located at the junction of Wolf Rd. and Stringtown Rd. Currently, there is nothing there except for a couple of scattered homes.

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Towns became 'official' when it was listed as a post office in 1886, with Hattie Walworth as postmaster. There was a one-room schoolhouse about a mile north of the junction (now gone) and, looking at the atlases, it looks like there were some freshwater springs in the area. There were no railroads going through, which might explain why the area never blossomed into a full-fledged town. It's possible that it could have been a stagecoach stop, but so far there is no proof.

The post office and school are gone, and nothing there to show you it was once called 'Towns'...that is, except for the 1894 atlas, that seems to be the only place that lists it.

The post office closed in 1904.