Its Register listing is the Linden Barn. Most of Isanti Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1910.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Isanti Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Isanti Township’s overall grade.
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 Isanti Township’s 5.3 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Isanti Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Blomford
1886–1904
Stanley
1893–1904
Bodum
1899–1903
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BlomfordBodumMinnesota Boys TownStanley
Gone or out of use
Blomford Post Officepost officeBodum Post Officepost officeStanley Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Isanti Township
Big MeadowsIsanti UnionNorth Isanti Baptist
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Isanti Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Isanti Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Isanti ( eye-SAN-tee) is a city in Isanti County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,804 at the 2020 census. The name Isanti is composed of two Dakota words: isan ("knife") and ati ("camp"), and refers to the Santee Dakota people. Minnesota State Highway 65 and Isanti County Road 5 are the main routes in Isanti.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,313 to 2,262 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Isanti Township, 1860 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Isanti Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Cambridge 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 Isanti Township.
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.
Isanti Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. 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 Isanti Township?
One place: the Linden Barn (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Isanti Township?
7% of Isanti Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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2018
