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History · Halma

Halma’s post office opened in 1904, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1930.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Halma began

When was Halma founded?

1904

The Halma post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lafgren (1902), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 129 in 19302020 census: 58122 years
Founding year: the first Halma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Halma’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 Halma are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 177 in 1950; 58 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Halma’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Halma’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

Halma, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 177

Peaked at 177 in 1950; 58 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story

How Halma came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Halma.

Read it all →

A post office called Halma began operation in 1904 and was closed in 2009. According to the Federal Writers' Project, the name may be derived from the surname Holm.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Halma, 1902 to 1956

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Lafgren post office opens
  3. 1904Post officeThe Lafgren post office closes
  4. 1904Post officeThe Halma post office opens
  5. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 177
  6. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Halma, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Halma, Minnesota-032006Halma, Minnesota-03Halma, Minnesota-022006Halma, Minnesota-02Halma, Minnesota-012006Halma, Minnesota-01Halma, Minnesota-102001Halma, Minnesota-10Halma, Minnesota-092001Halma, Minnesota-09Halma, Minnesota-082001Halma, Minnesota-08
On the map

Halma on the map, 1956 to 1982

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

Halma on the 1956 USGS mapHalma on the 1982 USGS map1956Karlstad 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 Halma.

Famous people

Famous people close to Halma

Nobody well known was born in Halma itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
D
Donald PedersonAmerican professor of electrical engineering · b. 1925
Kristen DexterAmerican politician · b. 1961
Larry OlsonoskiAmerican football player · b. 1925
Bill IngebrigtsenAmerican politician · b. 1952
T
Tim JohnsonAmerican male curler · b. 1953
Truman SpangrudRetired lieutenant general in the United States… · b. 1934
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Halma’s post office has been open since 1904. Another post office, Lafgren, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lafgren
1902–1904
Halma
1904–today
19001960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Halma’s history

What year was Halma founded?

The Halma post office opened in 1904, 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 (6), 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.