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History · Akeley

Akeley dates to 1916, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: the census since 1920.

1916founded
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: S Carpenter at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Akeley began

When was Akeley founded?

1916

Akeley dates its founding to 1916 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 855 in 19202020 census: 404110 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1895.The full story ↓

What stands out about Akeley’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 Akeley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Akeley’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Akeley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Akeley.

Read it all →

The city of Akeley was incorporated on December 30, 1916. It was largely developed by a partnership between lumber magnate T. B. Walker and Healy C. Akeley, who formed the Red River Lumber Company in 1893. General settlement of Akeley began in 1895. After Walker built a sawmill in 1902, Akeley's development skyrocketed. The mill was once the largest in Minnesota. Walker had intended to build the mill in what later became Walker, Minnesota, but chose Akeley instead because of his wife's disapproval of the bars and brothels in the Walker area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Akeley, 1895 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Akely post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1916
    FoundingAkeley is established
  5. 1927Post officeThe Akely post office closes
  6. 1927Post officeThe Akeley post office opens
  7. 1953Born hereJohn Carlson is born here
By decade

Akeley, decade by decade

Today9 recent
Welcome sign2024Welcome signPost Office2024Post OfficeFire department2024Fire departmentBusinesses, Lake County Scenic Byway at Hulet Avenue2024Businesses, Lake County Scenic Byway at Hulet AvenueBusinesses, Lake County Scenic Byway at Graceson Avenue, south side2024Businesses, Lake County Scenic Byway at Graceson Aven…Businesses, Lake County Scenic Byway at Graceson Avenue, north side2024Businesses, Lake County Scenic Byway at Graceson Aven…Business2024BusinessHubbard county MN 34 Akeley IMG 13132012Hubbard county MN 34 Akeley IMG 1313Akeley-Minnesota-Paul-Bunyan2007Akeley-Minnesota-Paul-Bunyan
People over time

Akeley, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 855

Between 393 and 855 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Akeley’s post office has been open since 1927. Another post office, Akely, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Akely
1895–1927
Akeley
1927–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Akeley Railroad Stationlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Akeley’s history

What year was Akeley founded?

In 1916, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Akeley’s post office opened in 1895, and the census of 1920 counted 855 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 (9), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.