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History · Holyoke Township

Holyoke Township’s post office opened in 1894

Most of Holyoke Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1954 on.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Holyoke Township began

When was Holyoke Township founded?

1894

The Holyoke Township post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Holyoke (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 209132 years
Founding year: the first Holyoke Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Holyoke 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 Holyoke Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Holyoke Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Holyoke Township, in brief

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

Holyoke is an unincorporated community in Holyoke Township, Carlton County, Minnesota, United States. It is located between Sandstone and Duluth. Carlton County Road 8 and State Highway 23 (MN 23) are two of the main routes in the community. Holyoke is located 13 miles south of Wrenshall. The Nemadji State Forest is nearby. The communities of Nickerson, MN and Foxboro, WI are near Holyoke.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 182 to 209 (+15%).

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

Timeline

Holyoke Township, 1894 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Holyoke post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1984Post officeThe Holyoke post office closes
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.
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On the map

Holyoke Township on the map, 1954 to 1962

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

Holyoke Township on the 1954 USGS mapHolyoke Township on the 1962 USGS map1954Foxboro 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 Holyoke Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, Holyoke, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Holyoke

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Nickerson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWrenshall TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Holyoke Township’s history

What year was Holyoke Township founded?

The Holyoke Township post office opened in 1894, 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 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.