The story
Read it all →How Chisago Lake Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Chisago Lake Township.
Chisago Lake Township was organized in 1858. It took its name from nearby Chisago Lake.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
About Chisago Lake Township’s history
How historic is Chisago Lake Township?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Chisago Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chisago Lake Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #125 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chisago Lake Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19407.3% of homes (±3.0) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 2.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 54%
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 Chisago Lake Township’s 2.0 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±3.0 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 Chisago Lake 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 Chisago Lake Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chisago 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.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
Chisago Lake Township on the map, 1955 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chisago Lake Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1955Forest Lake 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 Chisago Lake Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Chisago Lake Township
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
1980
Moody Barn
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Chisago Lake Township, census by census
Grew from 347 people in 1860 to 4,656 in 2010, more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1860–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chisago Lake Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lake Shore Terrace Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Dupres Airportairport
1cemetery inside Chisago Lake Township
Glader
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.
Chisago CityIts storyCCenter City1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLindstrom3 historic placesB−Franconia Township2 historic placesB+Sunrise TownshipIts storyC+Shafer TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townScandia3 historic placesBAmador Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStacyIts storyC−Forest LakeIts storyC−
Questions about Chisago Lake Township’s history
How does Chisago Lake Township rank for history?
Chisago Lake Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #125 of 273 in Minnesota. 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.
What is on the National Register in Chisago Lake Township?
One place: the Moody Barn (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Chisago Lake Township?
7% of Chisago Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.