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History · Green Isle

Green Isle’s post office opened in 1866, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1890.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: afiler from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Green Isle began

When was Green Isle founded?

1866

The Green Isle post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 219 in 18902020 census: 591160 years
Founding year: the first Green Isle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Green Isle’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 Green Isle are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1940 and 1990, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Green Isle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Green Isle’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
People over time

Green Isle, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020376 in 1940Low: 239

Lost a third of its people between 1940 and 1990, then more than doubled.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Green Isle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Green Isle.

Read it all →

The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway (M&StL) originally built the railroad tracks between Norwood and Morton circa 1880. Green Isle was platted in 1881, incorporating these northeast/southwest-oriented tracks. The town was named after the previously existing township, its name alluding to Ireland, the Emerald Isle, as many of its earliest settlers were from Ireland.

On June 15, 2025, 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter was arrested in connection with the 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators in a wooded area near Boelter's property in Green Isle. The manhunt was described by Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley as "the largest manhunt in state history."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Green Isle, 1866 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Green Isle post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Born hereJim Hunt is born here
  5. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 591
By decade

Green Isle, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (7)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (7)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (6)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (6)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (5)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (5)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (4)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (4)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (3)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (3)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (2)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (2)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (11)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (11)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (10)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (10)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (1)2014Green Isle, MN 55338, USA - panoramio (1)Green Isle, MN 55338, USA2013Green Isle, MN 55338, USAGreen Isle, Minnesota2006Green Isle, MinnesotaMNMap-doton-Green Isle2005MNMap-doton-Green Isle
On the map

Green Isle on the map, 1958 to 1982

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

Green Isle on the 1958 USGS mapGreen Isle on the 1982 USGS map1958Gaylord 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 Green Isle.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Washington Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen Isle TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Green Isle’s history

What year was Green Isle founded?

The Green Isle post office opened in 1866, 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 (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.