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History · Automba Township

Automba Township’s post office opened in 1914, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on.

1914first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Automba Township began

When was Automba Township founded?

1914

The Automba Township post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Kalavala (1901) and Automba (1914), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 150112 years
Founding year: the first Automba Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Automba 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 Automba Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Automba Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Automba Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Automba Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kalavala
1901–1913
Automba
1914–1954
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Automba
Gone or out of use
Automba Post Officepost office

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

The story so far

Automba Township, in brief

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

Automba is an unincorporated community in Automba Township, Carlton County, Minnesota, United States. The community is near Kettle River along Carlton County Road 6. State Highways 27 (MN 27) and 73 (MN 73) are nearby. Automba is 18 miles west-northwest of Moose Lake.

Its first post office opened in 1914. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 140 to 150 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Automba Township, 1901 to 1954

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Kalavala post office opens
  3. 1913Post officeThe Kalavala post office closes
  4. 1914Post officeThe Automba post office opens
  5. 1931Born hereIrene Reed is born here
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1954Post officeThe Automba 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Automba Township on the map, 1953 to 1969

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

Automba Township on the 1953 USGS mapAutomba Township on the 1969 USGS map1953Duluth sheet · 1:250,000

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Kalevala TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLakeview TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSplit Rock TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSalo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Automba Township’s history

What year was Automba Township founded?

The Automba Township post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.