Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Embarrass Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Embarrass Township

Embarrass Township’s post office opened in 1896, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 13 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1954 on.

1896first post office
5on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Embarrass Township began

When was Embarrass Township founded?

1896

The Embarrass Township post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 601130 years
Founding year: the first Embarrass Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Embarrass 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 Embarrass Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Embarrass Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Embarrass 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
On the National Register

5 listings protect 16 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
16
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Hanka, Gregorius and Mary, Historic Farmstead
Hanka, Gregorius and Mary, Historic FarmsteadNelimark, Erick and Kristina, Sauna, built 1930Anna and Mikko Pyhala FarmMatson, Mike and Mary, Historic Farmstead, built 1900Finnish Apostolic Lutheran Church of Embarrass
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Log4
Hanka, Gregorius and Mary, Historic FarmsteadLog
Nelimark, Erick and Kristina, SaunaLog · Built 1930
Anna and Mikko Pyhala FarmLog
All 5 listings
Matson, Mike and Mary, Historic FarmsteadDistrict · listed 1990Finnish Apostolic Lutheran Church of EmbarrassBuilding · listed 2023

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Embarrass Township, in brief

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

Embarrass is an unincorporated community in Embarrass Township, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located on the Mesabi Iron Range. With an average annual temperature of 36.4 °F (2.4 °C), Embarrass is notable as the coldest place in Minnesota.

Its first post office opened in 1896. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 607 in 2010, 601 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Embarrass Township, 1896 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896Post officeThe Embarrass post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900BuiltMatson, Mike and Mary, Historic Farmstead is built
  5. 1930BuiltNelimark, Erick and Kristina, Sauna is built
  6. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Embarrass Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Embarrass, Minnesota-042026Embarrass, Minnesota-04Embarrass, Minnesota-032026Embarrass, Minnesota-03Embarrass, Minnesota-022026Embarrass, Minnesota-02Embarrass, Minnesota-012026Embarrass, Minnesota-01Embarrass Apostolic Lutheran Church2017Embarrass Apostolic Lutheran ChurchEmbarrass River Trading Post, Embarrass, Minnesota2011Embarrass River Trading Post, Embarrass, Minnesota
On the map

Embarrass Township on the map, 1954 to 1994

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

Embarrass Township on the 1954 USGS mapEmbarrass Township on the 1964 USGS mapEmbarrass Township on the 1994 USGS map1954Hibbing sheet · 1:250,000

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

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
EmbarrassSalo Corner
Gone or out of use
Embarrass Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Embarrass Township
Embarrass

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.

Pike Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWaasa Township4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWhite Township1 historic placeA−Kugler TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Embarrass Township’s history

What year was Embarrass Township founded?

The Embarrass Township post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Embarrass Township?

5 listings: 2 buildings and 3 historic districts, the Hanka, Gregorius and Mary, Historic Farmstead, the Anna and Mikko Pyhala Farm and the Matson, Mike and Mary, Historic Farmstead, with 13 contributing buildings. 16 historic buildings in all.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.