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History · Grattan Township

Grattan Township’s post office opened in 1920

Most of Grattan Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1919 on.

1920first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Grattan Township began

When was Grattan Township founded?

1920

The Grattan Township post office opened in 1920, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Grattan (1920), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 44106 years
Founding year: the first Grattan Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Grattan 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 Grattan Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19193 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1996. Watch Grattan Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grattan Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grattan Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Grattan Township on the map, 1919 to 1996

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

Grattan Township on the 1919 USGS mapGrattan Township on the 1971 USGS mapGrattan Township on the 1996 USGS map1919Gemmell 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 Grattan Township.

The story so far

Grattan Township, in brief

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

Grattan is an unincorporated community in Grattan Township, Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located northwest of Wirt; near the junction of Itasca County Roads 26 and 31. The boundary line between Itasca and Koochiching counties is nearby. Nearby places include Northome, Dora Lake, and Wirt. Grattan is located 12 miles east-southeast of Northome; and 11 miles northwest of Wirt. Grattan is 49 miles northwest of Deer River. Grattan is located within ZIP code 56661 based in Northome. A post office previously operated in the community of Grattan, first as Pinetop (1901–1920), and then as Grattan (1920–1935), until its closing in 1935. Moose Brook and Windigo Creek are.…

Its first post office opened in 1920. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 44 in 2010, 44 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Grattan Township, 1919 to 1935

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1920Post officeThe Grattan post office opens
  4. 1935Post officeThe Grattan 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.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Grattan Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Grattan Township
Grattan

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.

Ardenhurst TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKinghurst TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPomroy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Grattan Township’s history

What year was Grattan Township founded?

The Grattan Township post office opened in 1920, 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 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.