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–Not graded
History · Camp Lake Township

34% of Camp Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on.

0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Camp Lake 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 Camp Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Camp Lake Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Camp Lake Township’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Camp Lake Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Camp Lake 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.

Swift Falls
1873–1910
Swift
1895–1900
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Swift Falls
Gone or out of use
Swift Falls Post Officepost officeSwift Falls Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Camp Lake Township
Saint PauliSwift Falls

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

The story so far

Camp Lake Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Camp Lake Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Camp Lake Township is a township in Swift County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 222 at the 2000 census. Settled in the 1860s, Camp Lake Township was named after Camp Lake.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 213 to 162 (-24%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Camp Lake Township, 1873 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Swift Falls post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Swift post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Swift post office closes
  6. 1910Post officeThe Swift Falls post office closes
  7. 1968On 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

Camp Lake Township on the map, 1968 to 1986

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

Camp Lake Township on the 1968 USGS mapCamp Lake Township on the 1986 USGS map1968De Graff 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 Camp Lake Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Kerkhoven TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRolling Forks TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBenson Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKildare TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Camp Lake Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 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.