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History · Dunnell

Dunnell’s post office opened in 1873, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1910.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dunnell began

When was Dunnell founded?

1873

The Dunnell post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 170 in 19102020 census: 133153 years
Founding year: the first Dunnell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dunnell’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 Dunnell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 260 in 1960; 133 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Dunnell’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dunnell’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dunnell’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
People over time

Dunnell, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 260

Peaked at 260 in 1960; 133 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Dunnell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dunnell.

Read it all →

A post office called Dunnell has been in operation since 1873. The city was named for Mark H. Dunnell, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dunnell, 1873 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Dunnell post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 260
  5. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Dunnell, decade by decade

Today2 recent
DunnellMNstone2006-05-212006DunnellMNstone2006-05-21MNMap-doton-Dunnell2005MNMap-doton-Dunnell
On the map

Dunnell on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Dunnell on the 1970 USGS mapDunnell on the 1985 USGS map1970Dunnell 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 Dunnell.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Dunnell’s post office has been open since 1873.

Gone or out of use
Dunnelllocale

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

Questions about Dunnell’s history

What year was Dunnell founded?

The Dunnell post office opened in 1873, 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 →
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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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.