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History · Alaska Township

Half of Alaska Township’s homes were built after 1984

Most of Alaska Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1900.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Alaska 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 Alaska Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 267 in 1940; 195 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alaska Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alaska 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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People over time

Alaska Township, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 267

Peaked at 267 in 1940; 195 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Alaska Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alaska Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alaska Township is a township in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 195 as of the 2020 census. Alaska Township was named by settlers who had recently returned from a trip to Alaska.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 217 to 195 (-10%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Alaska Township, 1906 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Island Lake post office opens
  3. 1922Post officeThe Island Lake post office closes
  4. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 267
  5. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Alaska Township on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Alaska Township on the 1972 USGS mapAlaska Township on the 1985 USGS map1972Red Lake 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 Alaska Township.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Island Lake
Gone or out of use
Island Lake Post Officepost officeIsland Lake Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Alaska Township
Island Lake

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.

Maple Ridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoosevelt Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNebish TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClover TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alaska 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 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.