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History · Elmdale

Elmdale’s post office opened in 1878, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1950.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Skvader · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Elmdale began

When was Elmdale founded?

1878

The Elmdale post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Elm Dale (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 119 in 19502020 census: 114148 years
Founding year: the first Elmdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Elmdale’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 Elmdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elmdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elmdale’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
The story so far

Elmdale, in brief

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

Elmdale is a city in Morrison County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 114 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1878. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 116 in 2010, 114 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Elmdale, 1878 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Elm Dale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907Post officeThe Elm Dale post office closes
  5. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Elmdale, decade by decade

Today3 recent
St. Edward Catholic Church2020St. Edward Catholic ChurchElmdale, Minnesota welcome sign2020Elmdale, Minnesota welcome signMNMap-doton-Elmdale2005MNMap-doton-Elmdale
On the map

Elmdale on the map, 1948 to 1978

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

Elmdale on the 1948 USGS mapElmdale on the 1950 USGS mapElmdale on the 1978 USGS map1948Little Falls sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elmdale.

People over time

Elmdale, census by census

01001960198020002020Peak: 130

Between 88 and 130 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Elm Dale, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Elmdale Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elmdale
Danish Lutheran ChurchFree Evangelical ChurchSaint Edward's Church

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.

Elmdale TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Elmdale’s history

What year was Elmdale founded?

The Elmdale post office opened in 1878, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.