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History · Hokah

Hokah dates to 1851, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1860.

1851founded
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hokah’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hokah began

When was Hokah founded?

1851

Hokah dates its founding to 1851 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 309 in 18602020 census: 553175 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1856.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hokah’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 961 in 1880; 553 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Hokah’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hokah’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLake Como in Hokah MN from 1909 postcard: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hokah, census by census

02004006008001,000190019502000Peak: 961

Peaked at 961 in 1880; 553 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

The story

How Hokah came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hokah.

Read it all →

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area that is now the city of Hokah was a Native American settlement of the Dakota people. The city's name, which is said to be a Native American word meaning gar fish or the Dakota name for the nearby Root River, derives from the chief of the settlement, Chief Wecheschatope Hokah. There were, at one time, more than thirty Indian mounds throughout the area including several effigy mounds, though most have been lost.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hokah, 1851 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851
    FoundingHokah is established
  3. 1856Post officeThe Hokah post office opens
  4. 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 961
  5. 1894Born hereHerbert John Burgman is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1909In the archiveLake Como in Hokah MN from 1909 postcard
  8. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hokah, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Lake Como in Hokah MN from 1909 postcard1909Lake Como in Hokah MN from 1909 postcardPostcard
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Hokah MN downtown from Mt Tom2015Hokah MN downtown from Mt TomHokah MN downtown - Apr 20152015Hokah MN downtown - Apr 2015Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Watching the Falls2006Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Watching the Fa…Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Mt. Tom in2006Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Mt. Tom inHistoric Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Downtown2006Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Downtown
On the map

Hokah on the map, 1956 to 1991

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

Hokah on the 1956 USGS mapHokah on the 1973 USGS mapHokah on the 1991 USGS map1956La Crescent 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 Hokah.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lake Como in Hokah MN from 1909 postcard
Retake this viewLake Como in Hokah MN from 1909 postcard, 1909

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hokah’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Hokah’s post office has been open since 1856.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Thunderbird Mobile Home ParkVillage Terrace
Gone or out of use
Hokahlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hokah
Mount CalvaryMount Hope

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

Questions about Hokah’s history

What year was Hokah founded?

In 1851, according to Wikidata. Hokah’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1860 counted 309 people here.

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, 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.