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–Not graded
History · Brook Park Township

11% of Brook Park Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1920.

0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Brook Park 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brook Park Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brook Park Township’s history is told.

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

How Brook Park Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brook Park Township.

Read it all →

Founded as a lumber camp in the 1870s, Brook Park was incorporated as a township on April 18, 1894; and as a village on October 1, 1919. On September 1, 1894, the township and surrounding area were devastated in the Great Hinckley Fire. At the time, the town of Brook Park was known as Pokegama. A monument to the Brook Park victims of the fire is located in the town cemetery just southwest of town, marking a mass grave of 23 unidentified victims.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Brook Park Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Hinckey Fire Monument1915Hinckey Fire Monument
1920s–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

Brook Park Township on the map, 1961 to 1983

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

Brook Park Township on the 1961 USGS mapBrook Park Township on the 1983 USGS map1961Brook Park 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 Brook Park Township.

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.

Hinckey Fire Monument
Retake this viewHinckey Fire Monument, 1915

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Brook Park Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Brook Park Township, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 167

Between 93 and 167 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Brook Park Township

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

See all →
Gladys NordenstromAmerican composer · b. 1924
Noah DahlmanAmerican basketball player · b. 1989
Rube WalbergAmerican baseball player · b. 1896
C
Clayton TonnemakerAmerican football player · b. 1928
Dan SeversonAmerican politician · b. 1954
Jason RarickAmerican politician · b. 1969
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Mission Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPokegama TownshipIts storyC−Whited TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHinckley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Brook Park Township’s history

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 (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.