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History · Higdem Township

Higdem Township’s post office opened in 1880, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1966 on.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Higdem Township began

When was Higdem Township founded?

1880

The Higdem Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Higdem (1880) and Birkholz (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 83146 years
Founding year: the first Higdem Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Higdem 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 Higdem Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Higdem Township.Old housesHalf of Higdem Township’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Higdem Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Higdem Township’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, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Higdem
1880–1880
Birkholz
1900–1908
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Birkholz Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Higdem Township
Swedish

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

The story so far

Higdem Township, in brief

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

Higdem Township is a township in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Grand Forks-ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 99 at the 2000 census. Higdem Township was organized in 1879, and named for Arne O. Higdem, a county official.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 84 in 2010, 83 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Higdem Township, 1880 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Higdem post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Higdem post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Birkholz post office opens
  6. 1908Post officeThe Birkholz post office closes
  7. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 album
On the map

Higdem Township on the map, 1966 to 1985

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

Higdem Township on the 1966 USGS mapHigdem Township on the 1985 USGS map1966Oslo NE sheet · 1:24,000

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Esther TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOak Park TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSandsville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Higdem Township’s history

What year was Higdem Township founded?

The Higdem Township post office opened in 1880, 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.