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History · Big Falls

Big Falls’ post office opened in 1906, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1910.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Big Falls’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Big Falls began

When was Big Falls founded?

1906

The Big Falls post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ripple (1901), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 325 in 19102020 census: 175120 years
Founding year: the first Big Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Big Falls’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 534 in 1970; 175 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

Big Falls, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 534

Peaked at 534 in 1970; 175 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Big Falls came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Big Falls.

Read it all →

The city was named for a nearby waterfall on the Big Fork River. A post office named Big Falls has been in operation since 1906.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Big Falls, 1901 to 1970

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Ripple post office opens
  3. 1906Post officeThe Ripple post office closes
  4. 1906Post officeThe Big Falls post office opens
  5. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1937In the archiveHouse. Big Falls, Minnesota
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 534
By decade

Big Falls, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
House. Big Falls, Minnesota1937House. Big Falls, MinnesotaBarber pole1937Barber poleRestaurant window. Big Falls, Minnesota1937Restaurant window. Big Falls, MinnesotaOld resident of Big Falls, Minnesota1937Old resident of Big Falls, MinnesotaEntrance to barn. Big Falls, Minnesota1937Entrance to barn. Big Falls, MinnesotaMuseum of Indian arrowheads and relics. Big Falls, Minnesota1937Museum of Indian arrowheads and relics. Big Falls, Mi…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Big Falls on the map, 1919 to 1971

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

Big Falls on the 1919 USGS mapBig Falls on the 1971 USGS map1919Margie sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

House. Big Falls, Minnesota
Retake this viewHouse. Big Falls, Minnesota, 1937

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Big Falls’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Big Falls’s post office has been open since 1906. Another post office, Ripple, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ripple
1901–1906
Big Falls
1906–today
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Big Fallslocale
1cemetery inside Big Falls
Evergreen

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

Help out

Finish Big Falls’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHouse. Big Falls, Minnesota: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Big Falls’ history

What year was Big Falls founded?

The Big Falls 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 the Library of Congress (6), 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.