The story
Read it all →How Elbow Lake Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Elbow Lake Township.
Elbow Lake Township was organized in 1877, and named after the Elbow Lake.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Elbow Lake Township
29% of Elbow Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1911 on.
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Elbow 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 Elbow Lake Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elbow 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.Timeline
Elbow Lake Township, 1888 to 1923
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1888Post officeThe Hereford post office opens
- 20th century
- 1911
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1923Post officeThe Hereford post office closes
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
Elbow Lake Township on the map, 1911 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elbow Lake Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1911Herman 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 Elbow Lake Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Elbow Lake Township
Nobody well known was born in Elbow Lake Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Hereford, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hereford
Gone or out of use
School Number 10schoolSchool Number 17schoolSchool Number 24schoolSchool Number 39school
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elbow Lake Township
HerefordWest Elbow Lake Lutheran
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.
Delaware TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSanford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStony Brook TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Ottawa TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Elbow Lake Township’s history
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). 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.