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History · Bigfork

Bigfork’s post office opened in 1902, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Bigfork was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Bigfork Village Hall. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1910.

1902first post office
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bigfork’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bigfork began

When was Bigfork founded?

1902

The Bigfork post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 167 in 19102020 census: 400124 years
Founding year: the first Bigfork post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bigfork’s past

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

A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · By decade

Bigfork, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s16 items
Edge of the Wilderness - Bicycling the Byway in1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bicycling the Byway inEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Kiosk1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive KioskEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Site1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive SiteEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Site1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive SiteEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Site1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive SiteEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Site1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive SiteEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Site1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive SiteEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Site1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive SiteEdge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive Site1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bigfork Interpretive SiteEdge of the Wilderness - Bridge in1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bridge inEdge of the Wilderness - Bridge in1995Edge of the Wilderness - Bridge inEdge of the Wilderness - Covered Interpretive Panel at1995Edge of the Wilderness - Covered Interpretive Panel atEdge of the Wilderness - Covered Interpretive Panel at1995Edge of the Wilderness - Covered Interpretive Panel atEdge of the Wilderness - Crossing the Bridge in1995Edge of the Wilderness - Crossing the Bridge inEdge of the Wilderness - North Entrance to1995Edge of the Wilderness - North Entrance toEdge of the Wilderness - Welcome to1995Edge of the Wilderness - Welcome to
Today13 recent
Big Fork River, Effie, Minnesota in Winter2018Big Fork River, Effie, Minnesota in WinterMain Street2017Main StreetCenex Northern Star Propane Co-op2017Cenex Northern Star Propane Co-opBigfork Water Treatment Plant2017Bigfork Water Treatment PlantBig Fork River Boat Launch2017Big Fork River Boat LaunchBigfork City Hall2014Bigfork City HallMNMap-doton-Bigfork2005MNMap-doton-BigforkEdge of the Wilderness - Veterans Memorial in Big Fork2003Edge of the Wilderness - Veterans Memorial in Big ForkEdge of the Wilderness - The Entrance to2003Edge of the Wilderness - The Entrance toEdge of the Wilderness - Lovely Park in2003Edge of the Wilderness - Lovely Park inEdge of the Wilderness - Gateway to the Edge of the Wilderness2003Edge of the Wilderness - Gateway to the Edge of the W…Edge of the Wilderness - Gateway to the Byway2003Edge of the Wilderness - Gateway to the BywayEdge of the Wilderness - Byway Gateway at2003Edge of the Wilderness - Byway Gateway at
The story

How Bigfork came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bigfork.

Read it all →

Bigfork originally began as a settlement when Damase "Uncle Tom" Neveaux built a log cabin on the Big Fork River, claiming the stand of pine there, and began logging activities. Though Neveaux reached the area in 1887, and the settlement began in 1892, officially, he was a squatter until the land was opened for settlement in 1900.

By 1902, a post office was established, and in 1906, a station was added to the Minneapolis and Rainy River Railway.

On January 17, 1907, less than a year after the railway stop was completed, Bigfork was incorporated as a village. Bigfork Village Hall, built in 1936 with WPA funds, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bigfork, 1902 to 1995

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Bigfork post office opens
  3. 1936BuiltBigfork Village Hall is built
  4. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1995In the archiveEdge of the Wilderness - Bicycling the Byway in
On the map

Bigfork on the map, 1970 to 1996

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

Bigfork on the 1970 USGS mapBigfork on the 1996 USGS map1970Bigfork 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 Bigfork.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Bigfork

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
2012
Bigfork Village Hall
Bigfork Village Hall, built 1936
Buildings
Bigfork Village HallBuilt 1936

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

People over time

Bigfork, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 469

Between 160 and 469 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Bigfork’s post office has been open since 1902.

Gone or out of use
Bigforklocale
1cemetery inside Bigfork
Lakeview

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

Help out

Finish Bigfork’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 viewEdge of the Wilderness - Bicycling the …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Bigfork’s history

What year was Bigfork founded?

The Bigfork post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bigfork?

One place: the Bigfork Village Hall (listed 2012).

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 (29), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.