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History · Bygland Township

Bygland Township’s post office opened in 1897, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bygland Township began

When was Bygland Township founded?

1897

The Bygland Township post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Wig (1889) and Bygland (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 258129 years
Founding year: the first Bygland Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bygland 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 writtenNo old photos of Bygland Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bygland Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Bygland Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bygland Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bygland Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wig
1889–1903
Bygland
1897–1906
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bygland
Gone or out of use
Bygland Post Officepost officeWig Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bygland Township
ByglandPioneer

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

The story

How Bygland Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bygland Township.

Read it all →

Bygland Township was organized in 1877, and named after Bygland Municipality, Norway.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bygland Township, 1889 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Wig post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Bygland post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Wig post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Bygland post office closes
  7. 1964On 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.
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On the map

Bygland Township on the map, 1964 to 1984

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

Bygland Township on the 1964 USGS mapBygland Township on the 1984 USGS map1964Bygland 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 Bygland Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Huntsville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFisher TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTynsid TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bygland Township’s history

What year was Bygland Township founded?

The Bygland Township post office opened in 1897, 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 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.