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History · Alexander-Belle Prairie Township

29% of Alexander-Belle Prairie Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1892 on.

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Alexander-Belle Prairie Township’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 Alexander-Belle Prairie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Alexander-Belle Prairie Township change.Old housesHalf of Alexander-Belle Prairie Township’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alexander-Belle Prairie Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alexander-Belle Prairie Township’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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On the map

Alexander-Belle Prairie Township on the map, 1892 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alexander-Belle Prairie Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alexander-Belle Prairie Township on the 1892 USGS mapAlexander-Belle Prairie Township on the 1966 USGS mapAlexander-Belle Prairie Township on the 1985 USGS map1892Ness sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alexander-Belle Prairie Township.

The story

How Alexander-Belle Prairie Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alexander-Belle Prairie Township.

Read it all →

As its name implies, Alexander-Belle Prairie Township was originally two separate townships: Alexander Township and Belle Prairie Township. What was to become Alexander Township was first settled by A. Harvey and J. C. Young in 1872. The township was then established in 1874. In 1878, Hampton Township (now part of Hampton-Fairview Township) was created from part of it, and in 1879, Belle Prairie Township was created from Alexander Township as well. The two townships were merged together in the 1970s to create Alexander-Belle Prairie Township. In addition, part of Alexander Township was given to the newly formed Hampton-Fairview Township as well.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alexander-Belle Prairie Township, 1880 to 1908

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Flavius post office opens
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908Post officeThe Flavius post office closes
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Alexander-Belle Prairie Township

Nobody well known was born in Alexander-Belle Prairie Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Henry White EdgertonUnited States federal judge · b. 1888
Gary PattersonAmerican college football player, college footb… · b. 1960
E
Elon HogsettMajor League Baseball pitcher · b. 1903
G
Gilmore KinneyAmerican college basketball player · b. 1886
G
Glee S. Smith, Jr.American lawyer and politician · b. 1921
Tim BeckAmerican football player and coach · b. 1964
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Flavius, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
FlaviuslocaleSchadel Oil FieldoilfieldWebs Oil Fieldoilfield
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alexander-Belle Prairie Township
AbbeyBelle Prairie

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Bazine TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLa Crosse-Brookdale Township2 historic placesAHampton-Fairview TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShiley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHighpoint Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alexander-Belle Prairie Township’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, 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.