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History · Barsness Township

Barsness Township’s post office opened in 1897, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Barsness Township began

When was Barsness Township founded?

1897

The Barsness Township post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Barsness (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 137129 years
Founding year: the first Barsness Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Barsness 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 Barsness Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Barsness Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barsness Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barsness 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

How Barsness Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Barsness Township.

Read it all →

Barsness Township was named for brothers Erik N. Barsness, Nels N. Barsness, and Ole N. Barsness, Norwegian settlers. Nels Barsness's daughter, physician Nellie Barsness, was born on the family's homestead there.

The township was originally surveyed in 1857. The first settler was Olaus Olson Grove.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Barsness Township, 1891 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Born hereEdward E. Barsness is born here
  3. 1897Post officeThe Barsness post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Barsness post office closes
  6. 1968On 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.

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

Barsness Township on the map, 1968 to 1986

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

Barsness Township on the 1968 USGS mapBarsness Township on the 1986 USGS map1968Lake Minnewaska 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 Barsness Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Barsness Township
Barsness LutheranLake Ben

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.

Rolling Forks TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlue Mounds TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChippewa Falls Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Barsness Township’s history

What year was Barsness Township founded?

The Barsness Township post office opened in 1897, 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 →
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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 Wikipedia, 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.