The story
Read it all →How Buffalo Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Buffalo Township.
Buffalo Township was organized in 1858, and named after Buffalo Lake.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Buffalo Township
11% of Buffalo Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1958 on.
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Buffalo Township’s history
How historic is Buffalo Township?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Buffalo Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buffalo Township is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Buffalo Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194010.8% of homes (±4.5) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Buffalo Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Buffalo Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Buffalo Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buffalo Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Buffalo Township, 1865 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1865Post officeThe Pelican Lake post office opens
- 1867Post officeThe Pelican Lake post office closes
- 20th century
- 1958
On 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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Buffalo Township on the map, 1958 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buffalo Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Buffalo sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Buffalo Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Buffalo Township
Nobody well known was born in Buffalo Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Another post office, Pelican Lake, opened and closed inside today’s town.
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Buffalo Township
ImmanuelPelican LakeSaint Marks
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.
Questions about Buffalo Township’s history
How does Buffalo Township rank for history?
Buffalo Township is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Buffalo Township?
11% of Buffalo Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1984.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikipedia, 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.