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History · Balkan Township

10% of Balkan Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Bruce Mine Headframe. Below: maps from 1955 on.

1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Balkan 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 Balkan Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Balkan Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Balkan 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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The story so far

Balkan Township, in brief

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

Balkan Township is a township in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The township was named after the Balkan Mountains. The population was 808 at the 2020 census. U.S. Highway 169 and State Highway 73 (MN 73) are two of the main routes in the township. The city of Chisholm is located within the south–central portion of Balkan Township geographically but is a separate entity.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 832 to 808 (-3%).

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

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

Balkan Township on the map, 1955 to 1985

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

Balkan Township on the 1955 USGS mapBalkan Township on the 1969 USGS mapBalkan Township on the 1976 USGS mapBalkan Township on the 1985 USGS map1955Dewey Lake SE 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 Balkan Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Balkan Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Bruce Mine Headframe
Bruce Mine Headframe, built 1926
Structures
Bruce Mine HeadframeBuilt 1926

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Balkan Township

Nobody well known was born in Balkan Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Kevin McHaleAmerican basketball player · b. 1957
Roger MarisAmerican baseball player · b. 1934
Vincent BugliosiAmerican lawyer and true crime writer · b. 1934
Daniel BerriganAmerican Catholic priest, peace activist, and p… · b. 1921
Mark PavelichAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1958
John ShusterAmerican curler · b. 1982
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Clair Junction
Gone or out of use
Bradford MinemineCroxton MinemineDouglas MinemineDrew-Syme MinemineDuncan MinemineDunwoody MinemineElbern MinemineFraser MinemineHartley Burt MinemineHartley MineminePalmer MineminePillsbury MinemineShenango MinemineSherman Minemine

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.

Chisholm2 historic placesA−Great Scott TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHibbing11 historic placesA−

Questions about Balkan Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Balkan Township?

One place: the Bruce Mine Headframe (listed 1978).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.