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History · Bejou

Bejou’s post office opened in 1906, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1930.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Bejou began

When was Bejou founded?

1906

The Bejou post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 99 in 19302020 census: 84120 years
Founding year: the first Bejou post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bejou’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 Bejou are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 200 in 1940; 84 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bejou’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bejou’s collection

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

Bejou, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 200

Peaked at 200 in 1940; 84 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story

How Bejou came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bejou.

Read it all →

A post office called Bejou has been in operation since 1906. Some sources state that the town got its name from a corruption of the French word Bonjour, reasoning that the name is related to the Ojibwe word Boozhoo. However, these two words are linguistic false friends, and are not etymologically related. The town's name likely comes from the Ojibwe word bizhiw meaning "lynx", a type of cat indigenous to North America, and one of the doodems of the Ojibwe people.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bejou, 1906 to 1969

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Bejou post office opens
  3. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 200
  4. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bejou, decade by decade

Today7 recent
VFW Post 1226, Bejou, Minnesota 062025VFW Post 1226, Bejou, Minnesota 06United States Post Office2025United States Post OfficeCommercial section at Main Street and US Hwy 592025Commercial section at Main Street and US Hwy 59City limit sign, Bejou, Minnesota-022025City limit sign, Bejou, Minnesota-02City limit sign, Bejou, Minnesota-012025City limit sign, Bejou, Minnesota-01Building on Main Street, Bejou, Minnesota 052025Building on Main Street, Bejou, Minnesota 05Bejou, Minnesota2007Bejou, Minnesota
On the map

Bejou on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Bejou on the 1969 USGS mapBejou on the 1985 USGS map1969Bejou 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 Bejou.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bejou

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

See all →
Jan NarvesonCanadian philosopher · b. 1936
Lily HansonAmerican comedian · b. 1983
A
Arlo BrunsbergAmerican baseball player · b. 1940
N
Nicholas SpaethAmerican politician · b. 1950
A
Austin WalkerAmerican politician · b. 1883
N
Nels WoldUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1895

Questions about Bejou’s history

What year was Bejou founded?

The Bejou post office opened in 1906, 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 Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikipedia, 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.