History · Ham Lake

Ham Lake was first counted by the census in 1880, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #176 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Most of Ham Lake was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Its Register listing is the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church. Below: maps from 1985 on and the census since 1880.

1880first census

1on the National Register

3%homes built before 1940

2famous people

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Quick answers

How Ham Lake began

When was Ham Lake founded?

1880

Ham Lake first appears in the census in 1880. Three smaller post offices, Hamlake (1895), Jesperson (1900) and Lakenetta (1904), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 235 in 18802020 census: 16,464146 years

How historic is Ham Lake?

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Ham Lake’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ham Lake is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #176 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ham Lake’s overall grade.

Founding era1880, from the first census: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19402.7% of homes (±1.3) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%

NewerOlder

Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 36%

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 Ham Lake’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: the first census (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 Ham Lake’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 Ham Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ham Lake, and 2 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ham Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ham Lake’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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlake

1895–1900

Jesperson

1900–1904

Lakenetta

1904–1905

18901960today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Lake NettaSoderville

Gone or out of use

Lakenetta Post Officepost office

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ham Lake

Oak HillOur Saviours LutheranSoderville

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

The story

How Ham Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ham Lake.

Read it all →

The earliest record of settlers in the Ham Lake area goes back to 1855, and in 1856, settlers established a town just south and west of a lake shaped like a ham. The settlers platted and sold lots for a community they named Glen Carey, a Scottish name meaning "beautiful valley". The location was widely advertised as a future city. In 1857, all the houses were destroyed by a prairie fire. Some of the inhabitants barely escaped with their lives, saving only a few household goods. The settlers soon left the area as they had nowhere to live.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Ham Lake in 1905

Passages that mention Ham Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.

battle of Malvern Hill. Mr. Blanchard was soon after transfered to the Veteran's Reserve Corps, and was quartermaster sergeant and did clerical work in the War Department. He came to Minnesota in 1870, and settled in Ham Lake. About 1873 he took a homestead in section 34, town of Ham Lake, where he… — **History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota**1905 · page 186Read the page →
Read the text
battle of Malvern Hill. Mr. Blanchard was soon after transfered to the Veteran's Reserve Corps, and was quartermaster sergeant and did clerical work in the War Department. He came to Minnesota in 1870, and settled in Ham Lake. About 1873 he took a homestead in section 34, town of Ham Lake, where he has since lived. At the age of sixteen he made his first political speech, which was for Fremont in 1856 at Charlotte, Me. He served three years as chairman of the board of supervisors of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

youth was spent on a farm, and he followed logging and farming until his departure for America in 1866. He first located in St. Francis, but soon after settled on the farm where he still lives in the town of Ham Lake. He has held various town offices at different times. Andrew Turnquist was bom in … — **History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota**1905 · page 306Read the page →
Read the text
youth was spent on a farm, and he followed logging and farming until his departure for America in 1866. He first located in St. Francis, but soon after settled on the farm where he still lives in the town of Ham Lake. He has held various town offices at different times. Andrew Turnquist was bom in Sweden March 23, 1842, followed the life of a farmer most of the time, serving two years in the army. Came to America and to Minnesota in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Ham Lake, 1895 to 1987

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

19th century
1895Post officeThe Hamlake post office opens
20th century
1900Post officeThe Hamlake post office closes
1900Post officeThe Jesperson post office opens
1904Post officeThe Jesperson post office closes
1904Post officeThe Lakenetta post office opens
1905Post officeThe Lakenetta post office closes
1981Born hereTrevor Frischmon is born here
1985On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1987Born hereAndy Erikson is born here

By decade

Ham Lake, decade by decade

Today24 recent

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2012Ham Lake, MN 55304, USA

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On the map

Ham Lake on the map, 1985 to 1991

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

1985Anoka sheet · 1:100,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Ham Lake

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1979

Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church

Buildings

Swedish Evangelical Lutheran ChurchBuilding

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

People over time

Ham Lake, census by census

Grew from 235 people in 1880 to 16,464 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Ham Lake

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Trevor FrischmonAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1981

Andy EriksonAmerican stand-up comedian · b. 1987

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Columbus1 historic placeC⁺Andover1 historic placeC BlaineIts storyD East BethelIts storyD

Questions about Ham Lake’s history

What year was Ham Lake founded?

The Ham Lake post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ham Lake rank for history?

Ham Lake is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #176 of 273 in Minnesota. 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.

What is on the National Register in Ham Lake?

One place: the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in Ham Lake?

3% of Ham Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1994.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (24), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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