The story
Read it all →How Fish Lake Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Fish Lake Township.
Fish Lake Township was organized in 1868. It took its name from Fish Lake.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Fish Lake Township
Fish Lake Township dates to 1868, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1870.
1868founded
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Fish Lake Township began
When was Fish Lake Township founded?
1868
Fish Lake Township dates its founding to 1868 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
First census: 385 in 18702020 census: 2,193158 years
How historic is Fish Lake Township?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1868.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fish Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fish Lake Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fish Lake Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1868, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.4% of homes (±4.6) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder
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 Fish Lake Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1868.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Fish Lake 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 Fish Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1900 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fish Lake Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Fish Lake Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fish 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.People over time
Fish Lake Township, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.
15 censuses, 1870–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fish Lake Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Stark
Dalstrop
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Stark
Gone or out of use
Stark Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fish Lake Township
DalstorpFish Lake Lutheran
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Fish Lake Township, 1868 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1868FoundingFish Lake Township is established
- 1868Post officeThe Stark post office opens
- 1890Post officeThe Dalstrop post office opens
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Dalstrop post office closes
- 1904Post officeThe Stark post office closes
- 1961
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 2,012
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
Fish Lake Township on the map, 1961 to 1983
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fish Lake Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Cambridge 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 Fish Lake Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Fish Lake Township’s history
What year was Fish Lake Township founded?
In 1868, according to Wikidata. Fish Lake Township’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1870 counted 385 people here.
How does Fish Lake Township rank for history?
Fish Lake Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Fish Lake Township?
13% of Fish Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 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.