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History · Aitkin Township

Aitkin Township dates to 1870

Most of Aitkin Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1880.

1870founded
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Aitkin Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Aitkin Township began

When was Aitkin Township founded?

1870

Aitkin Township dates its founding to 1870 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 136 in 18802020 census: 910156 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1900.The full story ↓

What stands out about Aitkin 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Aitkin Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Aitkin Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAitkin High School, 1914: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Aitkin Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Aitkin Township.

Read it all →

Before the establishment of City of Aitkin, there was a transient community of Lexington at the mouth of the Ripple River, where it meets the Mississippi River. Maps from the 1860s erroneously depict the village of Ojibway at the mouth of the Ripple River.

Due to the importance of regional trade at Lexington, the Northern Pacific Railroad was planned to pass near there. Aitkin was founded in 1870 when the Northern Pacific Railroad was extended to that point, replacing and annexing Lexington. The city and county were named for William Alexander Aitken, a partner of the American Fur Company and chief factor of the company's regional operations in the early 19th century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Aitkin Township, 1870 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870
    FoundingAitkin Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Pineknoll post office opens
  5. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1914In the archiveAitkin High School, 1914
  7. 1915Post officeThe Pineknoll post office closes
By decade

Aitkin Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Aitkin High School, 19141914Aitkin High School, 1914
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today15 recent
AitkinMN Downtown22017AitkinMN Downtown2AitkinMN Downtown2017AitkinMN DowntownAitkinCHS-Log Museum2017AitkinCHS-Log Museum40027 Driveway201040027 Driveway40009 237th Lane east cabin201040009 237th Lane east cabin237th Lane aka 4001st Street2010237th Lane aka 4001st Street237th Lane2010237th Lane237th Lane - panoramio (1)2010237th Lane - panoramio (1)MN Aitkin 1407200948742009MN Aitkin 140720094874Potter-Casey Building 12007Potter-Casey Building 1Patrick Casey House 22007Patrick Casey House 2Freezing Rain, Pass With Care2007Freezing Rain, Pass With CareAitkin NP Depot 12007Aitkin NP Depot 1Aitkin Carnegie Library2007Aitkin Carnegie LibraryRialto Theater2003Rialto Theater
On the map

Aitkin Township on the map, 1913 to 1973

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

Aitkin Township on the 1913 USGS mapAitkin Township on the 1973 USGS map1913Cuyuna 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 Aitkin Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Aitkin High School, 1914
Retake this viewAitkin High School, 1914, 1914

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Aitkin Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Aitkin Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000188019001920194019601980200020202,168

Grew from 136 people in 1880 to 2,168 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Pine Knoll
Gone or out of use
Pineknoll Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Aitkin Township
LakeviewSaint Thomas

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.

Aitkin5 historic placesA−Rabbit Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpencer TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFarm Island Township1 historic placeB−

Questions about Aitkin Township’s history

What year was Aitkin Township founded?

In 1870, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Aitkin Township’s post office opened in 1900, and the census of 1880 counted 136 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 Wikimedia Commons (16), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.